A 

0 
0 
0 

5 
6 
4 

9 
0 
3 

3 

—         —  > 

W.  p.  Uph 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


^■■>* — ~-.  — 


<y,i-^r 


UVTER 
DALLAS,  TIXAS 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witin  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.arcliive.org/details/briefhistoryofarOOuphaiala 


BRIEF    HISTORY 


Art  of  Stenography, 


PROPOSED  KEW  SYSTEM 


PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND 


WILLIAM    P.     UPHAM 


»        •»  ■     » 


SALEM,  MASS. 
ESSEX    INSTITUTE, 

1877. 


Copyright,  1876, 
By  William  P.  Upham. 


PRINTED  AT 

THE  SALEM    PKESS. 

F.  \V.  PCTXAM  *  Co., 
Proprietors. 


HENRY    WHEATLAND,  M.  D., 

PRESIDENT     OF     THE     ESSEX     INSTITUTE, 

THIS    VOLUME    IS    DEDICATED 

AS  A 

TOKEN   OP   REGARD   FOR   HIS   DISINTERESTED   DEVOTION 

TO  THE 

ADVANCEMENT   OF   KNOWLEDGE. 


uc."!^ 


PREFACE 


The  necessity  for  rapid  writing,  arising  from  the  increased 
activity  of  business  and  professional  life,  naturally  calls  attention 
to  short-hand  writing  as  a  substitute  in  many  cases  for  the 
common  method.  Although  this  art  has,  in  recent  times,  been 
used  principally  as  a  means  of  reporting  speech,  its  advantages 
for  many  other  purposes  of  writing,  where  rapidity  is  required,  are 
becoming  more  and  more  generally  recognized.  This  increasing 
interest  in  the  use  of  stenograph}-  for  common  purposes  suggests 

Sj    inquiry  as  to  the  merits  of  the  different  short-hand  S3'stems,  and 

>•    as  to  the  possibility  of  improvement  upon  those  which  have  thus 

g    far  been  published. 

"*  The  following  work  contains,  in  Part  I,  a  brief  historj'  of  ste- 
nography with  a  particular  account  of  the  earliest  system  of 
which  an3thing  definite  is  known,  viz.,  the  "Tironian  Notes,"  or 
Roman  method  of  short-hand,  and  a  description  of  many  of  the 
systems  published  during  the  last  three  centuries.  The  Roman 
short-hand  is  illustrated  by  several  fac-simile  specimens  taken 
from  the  works  of  Grutcr,  Mabillon,  and  Carpentier.  In  Part  II, 
is  exhibited  a  new  sjstem  of  phonetic  short-hand  intended  for  use 
in  literary  composition,  business  correspondence,  writing  from 
dictation,  taking  notes  of  lectures,  addresses  or  evidence,  and 
making  copies  or  extracts  for  reference.  A  largely  extended  list 
of  word-signs  and  abbreviations,  such  as  is  required  in  any  s^'stem 

(V) 

448549 


VI  PREFACE. 

of  short-band  to  adapt  it  to  verbatim  reporting,  would,  for  the 
purposes  above  mentione<l,  be  an  unnecessary  burden  to  the 
memory  of  the  student.  If  any  one  should  desire  to  use  this 
system  for  reporting,  he  can  easily  supply  such  a  list  by  select- 
ing such  words  and  phrases  as  experience  and  the  nature  of  the 
discourse  to  be  reported  shall  show  to  be  most  convenient  for 
special  abbreviation. 

The  writer,  having  satisfied  himself  (perhaps  with  the  partiality 
of  an  author  for  his  own  work)  of  the  usefulness  of  the  system 
here  proposed,  originally  intended  to  print  a  few  copies  for  private 
distribution.  Being  requested,  however,  to  make  it  the  subject  of 
a  lecture  before  the  Essex  Institute,  he  has  since  been  induced  to 
prepare  it  for  more  general  publication.  Much  of  the  material 
for  the  historical  account  contained  in  Part  I  is  taken  from  pre- 
vious works  on  the  subject,  which  are  therein  more  particularly 
referred  to ;  and  some  of  the  principles  upon  which  the  proposed 
system  is  constructed  are  derived  from  a  study  of  the  various 
methods  of  short-hand  writing  heretofore  used.  In  the  choice  of 
the  forms  for  the  short-hand  characters,  and  in  the  phonetic  anal- 
ysis which  forms  the  basis  of  the  system,  the  writer  has  preferred 
to  follow,  independently,  the  methods  suggested  by  his  own  ex- 
perience and  investigation,  rather  than  rely  upon  theories  often 

too  implicitly  received  as  authoritative  guides. 

W.  P.  U. 
Salem,  May  1,  1877. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

HISTOUY   OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

PAGE 
Chap.    I.     Origin  of  short-hand  writing 1 

"       II.    References  to  short-hand  by  ancient  authors 8 

"      III.    Specimens  of  Roman  short-hand 13 

"      IV.    Probable  origin  of  the  Roman  short-hand 21 

"       V.      Modern  S3>tems  of  short-hand 25 

•'  VI.  Conclnsion.  giving  an  account  of  the  systems  of  Bishop  Wilkins 
(16(i8)  and  A.  M.  Bell  (1869),  and  some  observations  on  the  "  pho- 
nographic" systems  now  in  use ...;> 39 

Tables  of  Short-hand  Alphabets  and  List  of  Authors 4C 


PART  II. 

a  XEW  system   of   phonetic    SHOKT-H.AXD. 
ISTROUUCTIOX .i 51 

Sect.      I.     Definition  of  phonetic  short-hand 51 

"        II.     Advantages  of  the  plionetic  method : 51 

"       III.    Phonetic  short-hand  not  an  enemy  to  orthography.  .1 53 

"       IV.    Plan  of  tlie  phonetic  system  here  proposed 54 

1.  The  forms  of  the  characters 55 

2.  Description  of  the  characters 55 

3.  Use  of  difference  in  length  or  size  of  characters 58 

4.  Compound  sounds :: 58 

5.  Use  of  word-signs 58 

Chap.   I.     Analysis  of  the  articulate  sounds  of  the  English  language 59 

Sect.      I.     Necessity  of  a  preliminary  analysis 59 

II.  The  voice  and  the  breathing 60 

III.  Definition  of  vowels  and  consonants G3 

I V.  Vowcl-sounds 64 

V.  Compound-vowels 70 

VI.  Obscure  vowel-souuds 71 

VI I.  Consonant-sounds '2 

VIII.  Compound  consonants 75 

IX.  Explanation  of  the  compound  consonants  ch.  j,  sh.  zi/,  ngk,  and  ngi;.  7(S 

X.  Example  of  phonetic  spelling 77 

(vii) 


VIU  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Table    I.     Vowel-characters 78 

"       II.     Consonant-characters 79 

"       III.    Compound  vowel-characters 80 

"       IV.    Compound  consonant-characters 80 

Chap.  II.    Directions  for  the  use  of  tlie  characters 81 

Sect.      I.     Difference  in  heaviness  of  stroke  not  used 81 

"        II.    Joining  the  characters 81 

"       III.    Vowel-characters 82 

"       IV.    Consonant-characters 85 

"        V.    Compound  consonant-characters 87 

"       VI.    Double-consonant  forms 88 

"      VII.  Directions  for  the  use  of  characters  for  m,  n,  f,  v,  th,  dli,  w,  y,  wh, 

yh,  andh 88 

Table   V.     Consonant-characters  joined  in  one  form 90 

Chap.  III.    Directions  for  writing 92 

Sect.      I.     The  line  of  writing 92 

"        II.     Size  of  the  characters 92 

*'       III.    Continuity  of  the  writing 93 

"       IV.    Words  to  be  written  according  to  the  sound !)t 

"        V.     Sounds  that  may  be  omitted  in  writing 94 

Chap.  IV.    Word-signs  and  abbreviations 97 

Sect.      I.     Definition  of  word-signs '. 97 

"        II.    Use  of  word-signs 97 

"       III.    Difference  of  position 98 

"       IV.    AVord-signs  for  pronouns 08 

"        V.     Word-signs  for  the  auxiliary  verbs 101 

"       VI.    Abbreviations  for  prefixes  and  terminations 103 

"      VII.  Word-signs  for  words  denoting  position  or  direction 104 

Key  to  the  Short-hand  Examples , 106 

Table  VI.    Prefixes  and  terminations 113 

"      VII.   Contractions 114 

«'     VIII.  Example  of  Long-hand  and  Short-hand 116 

Examples  of  Short-hand : 117 


PART    I. 

HISTORY    OP    STENOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

ORIGIN   OF    SHORT-HAND   WRITING. 

Short-hand  writing,  though  understood  and  practised  by 
comparatively  few  persons,  has  always  been  regarded  as 
possessing  a  high  value  and  importance,  both  as  an  aid  to 
literary  labor,  and  as  a  means  of  preserving  extemporary 
discourse.  A  brief  account  of  the  origin  and  growth  of  this 
art,  and  of  some  of  the  principal  methods  of  short-hand  that 
have  prevailed  in  former  times,  may  be  not  without  interest 
as  a  matter  of  curious  history,  and  may  also  have  some  value 
as  a  guide  in  the  study  of  ancient  manuscripts  in  which 
short-hand  writing  occurs.  Many  of  the  principles  now  rec- 
ognized as  most  necessary  to  render  such  a  method  of  writ- 
ing practically  useful,  were  either  laid  down  in  the  old 
systems  of  short-hand,  or  have  been  suggested  by  a  com- 
parative study  of  them. 

The  term  short-hand ^  in  its  general  signification,  denotes 
any  abbreviated  or  contracted  method  of  writing  having  for 
its  object  compactness  or  celerity,  and  consisting  in  the  use 
of  word-signs,  abbreviations,  or  special  characters  more 
suitable  for  rapid  writing  than  the  ordinaiy  letters.  The 
usual  writing  is  sometimes  called  long-hand  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  shorter  method.  Among  the  various  names  applied 
to  this  art  that  which  is  now  most  generally  used  to  denote 

(1) 


2  HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

short-hand  writing  of  any  kind,  is  stenography ^  from  the 
Greek,  <rr£v«?,  contracted,  and  rP^V'^i->  writing. 
•  "Where  the  short-hand  is  based  upon  the  ordinary  alphabet, 
or  upon  a  series  of  characters  arranged  to  confoiTa  to  the 
ordinary  alphabet,  it  may  be  called  alphabetic  short-hand,  the 
■word  alphabet  being  derived  from  the  Greek  names  for  the 
two  first  letters  a  and  b.  Where,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
based  upon  a  series  of  characters  representing  the  articulate 
sounds  of  speech  without  regard  to  the  ordinary  alphabet^  it 
is  called,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  former,  phonetic  shoi^t- 
hand ;  the  word  phonetic  being  derived  from  the  Greek  word 
^wi'5j,  the  voice,  or  a  sound  of  the  voice. 

Although  most  of  the  systems  that  have  existed  in  former 
times  were  alphabetic,  phonetic  shoi't-hand  —  that  is,  short- 
hand following  the  sound  without  regard  to  the  ordinary 
spelling — is  by  no  means  a  recent  invention,  for  many  of  the 
veiy  numerous  systems  devised  during  the  last  two  or  three 
centuries  have  had  such  a  phonetic  structure.  This  phonetic 
principle  was  very  skilfully  applied  to  the  construction  of  a 
short-hand  alphabet,  in  the  system  invented  by  Isaac  Pitman, 
first  published  at  London  in  1837,  and  since,  with  various 
modifications,  extensively  adopted  in  England  and  in  the 
United  States.  The  name  phonography,  which  Pitman  gave 
to  his  system,  is  sometimes  erroneously  used  as  designating 
any  phonetic  system  of  short-hand.  The  word  phonograph}', 
by  its  derivation,  signifies  voice-writing  or  sound-icriting . 

The  art  of  short-haud  writing,  in  its  alphabetic  form  at  least, 
comes  down  to  us  from  a  remote  antiquity.    It  is  said  that  the 


HISTORY   OF    STEXOGRAPHT.  3 

Greeks  had  under  the  name  of  rayvypafo'.  "quick-writers," 
and  <njixswYpa'<foi  "writers  by  signs,"  scribes  who  practised 
the  art  of  writing  with  the  rapidity  of  speech.  Diogenes 
Laertius  in  his  life  of  Xenophou,^  the  famous  general,  phil- 
osopher and  historian,  states  that  "he  first  of  all,  taking 
notes  of  what  was  spoken,  published  the  memorable  things 
he  had  written  down."^  In  this  manner  the  conversations  of 
Socrates,  now  known  as  the  Memorabilia ^  were  preserved  by 
Xeuophon,  his  pupil.  Although  from  such  evidence  it  has 
been  generally  considered  that  the  art  of  short-hand  was 
communicated  to  the  Greeks  by  Xenophon,  if  he  were  not 
the  inventor  of  it,^  there  is  reason  to  doubt  whether  he  used 
any  characters  difierent  from  the  ordinary  letters,  as  no 
traces  of  their  employment  exist  in  his  writings.*  Probably 
his  system  was  one  simply  of  abbreviations  enabling  him  to 
make  memoranda  of  what  he  heard,  which  he  afterwards 
filled  out  from  memory. 

The  highest,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  difficult,  end 
which  this  art  of  short-hand  has  in  view,  is  the  ability  to 
"follow  speech"  or  to  "report  verbatim;"  that  is,  to  take 
down  in  wi'iting  the  words  of  a  speaker  as  rapidly  as  they 
are  uttered.  One  can  easily  understand,  therefore,  that  such 
an  art  would  naturally  be  developed  with  the  increase  of  free 
institutions,  popular  discourses  and  scientific  or  philosophical 


(»  Born  about  the  year  430  B.  C.) 

*  Kal    TrpuTOi   UTrooTj/ieiwo'o/ici'os   ra    Xeyoiieva.,    ets    avOpJiirovi   rf^aytv,    a.iro)i.vyiti.ovivy.aTa. 
iiriypa.'tia^. 

(3  norne's  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Bibliography,  London  1814,  p.  118.) 
(*  Historical  Account  of  Short-Hand,  Lewis,  p.  2-2.) 


4  HISTORY   OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

disciissious.  The  acute  perception  and  inventive  genius  of 
the  Greeks  could  hardl^^  fail  to  hit  upon  some  method  of 
writing  which  would  enable  them  to  preserve  the  memory 
of  the  eloquent  harangues  of  their  orators,  or  to  fix  in 
undying  characters  the  wise  precepts  and  almost  inspired 
thoughts  of  the  great  masters  of  philosophy.  Although  but 
little  is  known  as  to  the  history  of  short-hand  writing  in 
ancient  times,  there  is  sufficient  evidence  to  show  a  frequent 
use  of  it  among  the  early  Greeks,  and  that  it  flourished  most 
during  the  period  of  the  highest  civilization,  and  fell  into 
disuse  with  its  decline. 

Among  other  improvements  in  science  and  the  arts  which 
followed  the  conquest  of  Greece  by  the  Romans,  the  method 
of  rapid  writing,  which  appears  then  to  have  been  much  em- 
ployed by  Greek  writers,  was  introduced  into  Italy,  and,  about 
the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  Roman  Empire,  gave 
rise  to  a  distinct  profession ;  the  scribes  who  practised  the 
art  being  called  notarii,  and  the  characters  or  signs  which 
they  used  being  called  notos.  The  art  was  taught  by  masters 
or  special  professors ;  and  during  the  reign  of  Augustus 
there  existed  in  the  Empire  as  many  as  three  hundred 
schools  where  gi-atuitous  instruction  was  given. ^  The  word 
notOB^  or  "  notes  "  was  also  used  to  designate  another  kind  of 
writing  where  the  ordinary  letters  were  used,  one  or  two 
letters  of  a  word  beiug  substituted  for  the  word  itself  for 
the  sake  of  brevity ;  as  M,  for  Marcus,  Cos,  for  Consul,  P.  R. 


*  Histoire  de  Stenographie,  Scott  de  MaitiiiTille,  Paris,  1&49. 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY.  D 

for  Populus  Romanus,  etc. ;  or  one  letter  being  substituted 
for  another  for  secrecy;  thus  Suetonius  relates  of  Caesar 
(chap.  56),  and  of  Augustus  (chap.  88),  that  they  used 
such  a  method  substituting  h  for  a,  c  for  b,  etc.  This  writ- 
ing was  called  notoe  literoe^  the  shoi-t-hand  notes  being  called 
notce  non  litercB.  Writers  upon  this  subject  have  sometimes 
confounded  these  two  kinds  of  notes.  The  use  of  short-hand 
writing  under  the  name  of  notce  Tironianos^  or  notoe  Tironis  ac 
Senecce,  continued  for  nearly  a  thousand  years  ;  but  during  the 
latter  part  of  that  period  it  was  only  employed  as  a  compendi- 
ous method  of  writing  in  manuscripts  and  in  public  documents, 
such  as  capitularies  or  codices  containing  ecclesiastical  or 
civil  codes  and  regulations.  The  notce  fell  into  disuse  in 
France  toward  the  close  of  the  ninth  century,  and  in  Ger- 
many at  the  end  of  the  tenth  century.  After  that  time 
scarcely  any  of  them  appear  in  manuscripts  except  the  ab- 
breviations of  et  by  the  sign  T ,  and  of  us  at  the  end  of  words 
by  ^  ;  6  to  which  might  be  added  perhaps  the  dash  —  placed 
over  a  word  to  indicate  the  omission  of  m  or  n. 

The  early  writers  give  us  no  definite  description  of  this 
ancient  system  of  sliort-hand,  and  our  knowledge  of  its 
nature  is  derived  only  from  a  few  manuscripts,  written  in 
what  are  called  the  notce  Tironiance,  none  of  which  probably 
are  older  than  the  fifth  or  sixth  centuiy .'     From  what  we 


•  Home's  Introdnction,  cited  above.    He  refers  to  Petisci  Lexicon  torn.  2,  p.  377; 
Lambinet,  Recherclies  pp.  32-5;  and  Peignot,  Diet.  torn.  2,  pp.  297-9. 

'  The  absence  of  any  specimens  of  short-hand  writing  during  the  earlier  centuries  is 
accounted  for  by  the  perishable  nature  of  the  material  used,  namely,  a  tablet  spread 
with  a  layer  of  wax  and  written  upon  with  an  iron  style.— Lewis,  p.  28. 


6  HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

can  leani  of  it  the  method  appears  to  have  consisted  in  the 
employment  of  a  very  great  number  of  signs  composed  of 
characters,  and  representing  each  a  particular  word  in  the 
Latin  language.  The  most  distinctive  letter  or  syHable  of  a 
word  was  represented  by  a  special  character,  and  the  rest  of 
the  word  was  more  or  less  fully  indicated  by  additional  char- 
acters placed  above,  below,  or  at  the  side  of  the  first  char- 
acter. 

In  the  few  specimens  that  we  have  of  this  ancient  short- 
hand writing  it  is  evident  that  the  same  letter  or  the  same 
syllable  is  not  always  represented  by  the  same  character, 
nor  does  each  character  always  have  the  same  signification. 
Indeed  this  want  of  uniformity,  and  of  any  fixed  rule  of  struc- 
ture, is  so  great  as  to  give  to  the  writing  the  appearance  of 
being  composed  of  mere  signs  for  words,  wholly  arbitrary, 
or  simply  ideographic,  like  the  arbitrary  marks  that  were 
used  in  connection  with  the  ancient  Egyptian  hieroglyphics, 
or  those  which  are  supposed  to  form  the  basis  of  the  Chinese 
writing.  Whether  this  was  characteristic  of  the  "  Tironian 
notes  "  at  the  time  the  system  was  first  invented,  or  whether, 
as  would  be  more  likely,  it  is  owing  to  the  subsequent 
additions  that  were  made  to  its  list  of  word-signs,  and  to 
changes  in  the  manner  of  its  use  from  time  to  time,  is  a 
matter  of  uncertainty.  In  the  form  in  which  it  has  been 
transmitted  to  us  it  certainly  seems  very  poorly  adapted  to 
the  purpose  of  following  speech,  both  from  the  complex  form 
of  many  of  its  word-signs,  and  from  the  almost  incredible 
exertion  of  memory  that  must  have  been  necessary  in  order 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY.  7 

to  make  any  rapid  use  of  so  great  a  number  of  arbitrary 
characters.  It  cannot  be  doubted,  however,  that  a  very 
rapid  system  of  short-hand  existed  in  the  time  of  Cicero  and 
during  the  first  years  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  name 
notce  T'ironiance,  or  Tironian  notes,  is  derived  from  Tiro,  the 
libertus  or  "freedman"  of  Cicero,  who  is  said  to  have  im- 
proved and  reduced  to  order  a  system  of  short-hand  invented 
by  the  poet  Ennius."^  Sallust  has  preserved  in  his  history 
of  Catiline  a  speech  by  Cato  against  Caesar  in  the  Eomau 
Senate,  which  Tiro  is  said  to  have  taken  down  at  its  delivery 
by  means  of  these  short-hand  notes.  Plutarch,  in  his  life  of 
Cato  the  Younger,  relates  that  "  Of  Cato's  speeches  this  alone, 
it  is  said,  has  been  preserved ;  for  Cicero,  the  Consul,  had 
placed  about  in  various  parts  of  the  Senate  Chamber  the 
most  expert  writers,  having  previously  taught  them  the  use 
of  notes  (jjrjiitia)  which  expressed  by  minute  and  short 
strokes  many  letters.  For  they  did  not  at  that  time  have  or 
employ  the  so-called  short-hand  writers  {trqiitwypdipou:;^ ,  but 
then  first,  as  it  is  said,  do  traces  of  them  appear." 

^Born  in  the  year  239,  B.  C. 


CHAPTEK  II. 

REFERENCES  TO  SHORT-HAND  BY  ANCIENT  AUTHORS. 

The  following  passages  from  the  early  Roman  writers  show 
the  perfection  to  which  this  art  had  been  carried,  and  the  ad- 
miration with  which  its  successful  use  was  regarded.  Sene- 
ca, the  Philosopher,  says,  iu  his  ninetieth  Epistle,  *'Quid 
loquar  verhorum  notaSy  quibus^  quamvis  citata  excipitur  ora- 
tiOf  et  celeritatem  lingum  manus  sequitur?  Vilissimorum 
manclpiorum  ista  commenta  sunt."  "What  shall  I  say  of  the 
notes  for  words,  by  which,  however  rapidly  a  speech  may  be 
delivered,  the  hand  follows  the  quickness  of  the  tongue. 
These  are  the  invention  of  the  despised  slaves."^  Martial's 
epigram  208,  book  14,  celebrates  the  skill  of  the  notarius. 

"  Currant  verba  licet,  manus  est  velocior  illis, 
Nondum  lingua  suum,  dextra  peregit  opus." 

"Though  the  words  run,  the  hand  runs  swifter  than  they; 
before  the  tongue  has  finished,  the  right  hand  has  completed 
its  work." 

Ausonius,  a  celebrated  Roman  poet  of  the  fourth  century, 

pays  his  tribute  to  short-hand  as  follows.     (Epigram  146). 

AD   NOTARIUM  VELOCISSIME  EXCIPIENTEM. 

"  Puer,  notarum  praepetura 
Solers  minister,  advola. 
Bipatens  pugillar  expedi. 


1  Mucli  of  the  ■yn-iting  among  the  Romans  was  done  by  slaves,  or  freedmen,  among 
whom  were  many  persons  of  intelligence  and  learning,  such  as  Tiro  the  freedman  and 
friend  of  Cicero. 

(8) 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY.  SI 

Cui  miilta  fandi  copia, 
Punctis  peracta  singulis, 
Ut  una  vox  absolvitur. 
Evolvo  libros  uberes, 
Instarque  densse  grandinis 
Torrente  lingua  perstrepo. 
Tibi  nee  aures  ambigunt, 
Nee  occupatur  pagina. 
Et  mota  paree  dextera 
Volat  per  aequor  cereum. 
Cum  raaxirae  nune  proloquor, 
Circumloquentis  ambitu, 
Tu  sensa  nostri  pectoris 
Ut  dieta  jam  eeris  tenes. 
Sentire  tarn  velox  milii 
Vellem  dedisset  mens  raea, 
Quam  prsepctis  dextrae  fuga 
Tu  me  loquentem  prsevenis. 
Quis,  qu£eso,  quis  me  prodidit? 
Quis  ista  jam  dixit  tibi, 
Quae  eogitabam  dieere? 
Quae  furta  corde  in  intirao 
Exereet  ales  dextera? 
Quis  ordo  re  rum  tam  novas, 
Veniat  in  aures  ut  tuas, 
Quod  lingua  nondum  absolvent? 
Doctrina  non  base  praestitit 
Nee  uUa'tam  velox  mauus 
Celeripedis  eompendii. 
Natura  munus  hoe  tibi, 
Deusque  donum  tradidit : 
Quae  loquerer  ut  scires  prius ; 
Idemque  velles,  quod  volo. 

TO   THE   MOST   SWIFTLY   REPORTING   notaHuS. 

"Hasten,  youth,  skilled  in  the  swift  short-hand.     Bring 
hither  the  two-leaved  tablet  on  which  are  so  many  words  by         j^^B 
single  points  expressed,  as  a  single  sound  is  uttered.     I  un-  ^^ 

rol  the  well  filled  books,  and  like  a  stoiin  of  dense  hail  I 
rapidly  read.  Thou  hearest  all  rightly,  and  yet  thy  page  is 
not  filled.  Thy  hand  deftly  moved  flies  over  the  waxen  sur- 
face. Even  now,  while  my  speech  is  most  prolix  with  round- 
about circumlocution,  thou  hast  fixed  on  the  waxen  tablets 
the  thoughts  of  my  breast  while  they  are  uttered.     I  would 


10  HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

that  my  mind  could  have  thought  as  swift  as  thy  skilful  right 
hand.  Thou  anticipatest  my  speech.  Who,  1  ask,  who  has 
betrayed  me?  Who  has  ah-eady  told  you  of  what  I  was 
thinking  to  say  ?  AVhat  thefts  in  my  inmost  heart  has  your 
winded  ris:ht  hand  committed  ?  What  is  this  new  order  of 
things,  that  that  should  come  to  your  ears  which  the  tongue 
had  not  yet  spoken?  No  learning  has  caused  it;  no  other 
hand  is  so  swift  with  the  flying  contractions.  Nature  has 
brought  thee  the  skill,  and  God  the  gift  has  bestowed,  that 
what  I  would  speak  thou  shoulds't  know,  and  what  I  might 
wish,  thou  shoulds't  wish." 

To  the  same  .effect  are  the  lines  of  Manilius,  an  early 
Roman  poet,  referring  to  the  fortune  of  him  who  should  be 
born  under  the  sign  Virgo  (Astronomica,  book  4). 

Hie  et  scriptor  erit  felix,  cui  lltera  verbum  est, 
Quique  notls  linguam  superet,  cursumque  loquentis. 
Excipiet  longas  nova  per  compendia  voces. 

"  And  he  shall  be  the  fortunate  writer  to  whom  a  letter  is 
a  word.  By  his  notes  he  shall  surpass  the  tongue  and  the 
quickness  of  speech.  He  shall  take  down  long  sentences  by 
new  contractions." 

In  a  hymn  upon  the  death  of  Cassianus,  who  was  slain  by 
his  scholars  using  their  styles,  or  writing  instruments,  as 
weapons,  Prudentius,  a  poet  of  the  fourth  century,  thus  de- 
scribes the  teacher  of  short-hand  : 

Praefuerat  studiis  puerilibus,  et  grege  multo 
Septus  magister  literarum  soderat 
Verba  notis  brevibus  comprendere  cuncta  paratus 
Raptimque  punctis  dicta  prsepetibus  sequi. 

"The  master  of  the  school  presided  over  the  youthful 
studies,  and  sat  enclosed  by  a  great  multitude  prepared  to 
take  down  all  words  by  short  notes,  and  swiftly  to  follow 
the  speech  with  flying  points." 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY.  11 

These  high  encomiums  and  graphic  descriptions,  although 
much  allowance  should  be  made  for  poetic  exaggeration, 
seem  to  justify  the.  belief  that  the  short-hand  system  in  use 
among  the  Romans  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago  must  have 
been  capable  of  being  employed  for  reporting  speech.  If 
we  can  form  any  opinion  as  to  the  nature  of  that  system  from 
the  specimens  of  the  Tironian  notes,  so-called,  now  extant, 
or  from  the  general  statements  of  those  writers  who  have  re- 
ferred to  this  subject,  we  should  conclude  that  it  originated 
in  a  simple  method  of  extreme  abbreviation,  letters  being 
substituted  for  words,  and  whole  sentences  being  represented 
by  a  few  letter^.  Of  course  the  memory  and  the  context 
must  have  been  very  much  depended  upon  to  render  such 
writing  legible. 

Bishop  Wilkins  gives  the  following  account  of  the  notes^ 

or  ancient  short-hand. 2 

"These  were  single  letters  or  marks  whereby  the  Romans 
were  wont  to  express  whole  words.  Ennius  is  said  to  have 
invented  eleven  hundred  of  these ;  to  which  number,  Tullius 
Tyro,  Cicero's  libertus  (others  say  Cicero  himself),  added 
divers  others,  to  signifie  the  particles  of  speech ;  after  whom 
Philargyrus  the  Samian  and  Maecenas  added  yet  more.  After 
these  Annreus  Seneca  is  said  to  have  laboured  in  the  regulat- 
ins;  and  disjesting  of  those  former  notes  :  to  which  adding 
many  of  his  own  he  augmented  the  Avhole  number  to  five 
thousand,  published  by  Janus  Gruterus ;  though  amongst  his 
there  are  divers  of  a  later  invention,  relating  to  Christian  in- 
stitutions, which  have  been  added  since  (as  'tis  said)  by  S. 
Cyprian,  the  Martyr.  The  way  of  writing  by  these  did  re- 
quire a  vast  memory  and  labour." 

>  Essaj  towards  a  Real  Character,  &c.,  London,  1668,  p.  13. 


12  HISTORY   OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

That  Cicero  was  familiar  with  short-hand  is  evident  from 
the  following  passage  in  his  letter  to  Atticiis  (lib.  xiii,  epist. 
32)  :  Et^  quod  ad  te  de  decern  legatis  scrtpsi,  parum  intel- 
lexisti;  credo ^  quia  8cd  fffjiieimv  scripseram,  "You  did  not 
understand  what  I  wrote  to  you  concerning  the  ten  deputies, 
because,  I  suppose,  I  wrote  in  short-hand."  Carpentier, 
whose  work  will  be  hereafter  mentioned,  thinks  that  the  use 
of  the  Greek  word  for  short-hand,  ffijusia,  by  Cicero,  and 
also  by  Plutarch  (see  above  p.  7),  indicates  that  the  art  was 
borrowed  from  the  Greeks,  and  that  Cicero  could  not  be  the 
inventor  of  it,  "as  Plutarch  would  not  have  defrauded  him  of 
the  praise  justly  due  him,  nor  would  Cicero  himself  have  left 
it  to  be  commemorated  by  others." 


CHAPTER    III. 

SPECIMENS   OF  ROMAN   SHORT-HAND. 

The  not(2  were  published  in  1603  by  Gruter,  under  the 
title  Notm  Romanorum  Veterum^  quibus  liiera  verbum  facit, 
Tullii  Tironis  et  Anncei  Senecae  erutceque  nunc  primum  edi- 
tceque.  In  an  edition  of  Gruter's  Inscriptions,  by  Graevius, 
Amsterdam,  1707,  his  list  of  the  NotoR  Tironis  ac  Senecce  is 
given  as  an  appendix.  The  editor,  in  his  preface,  remarks 
that,  although  "  no  author  can  be  assigned  to  them  with  cer- 
tainty, it  is  probable  that  some  few  were  in  use  in  the  begin- 
ning, whether  invented  by  Tiro  or  by  some  other,  and  that 
they  were  increased  by  the  industry  of  later  times.  Thus 
Vossius,  lib.  IV  de  vitio  sermonis^  cap.  ii,  rightly  thinks  that 
very  many  additions  were  made  to  this  system  by  later  writ- 
ers ;  which  is  indeed  quite  evident  from  the  number  of  words 
in  it  abhorrent  to  the  Augustan  age,  and  even  barbarous. 
Reinesius  (acZ  inscriptionem  cv  classis  primce)  thinks  it  was 

the  work  of  the  fifth  century Salmasius  refers 

it  to  the  time  of  Gregory  the  Great,  who  lived  at  the  end 
of  the  sixth  century,  because  in  an  ancient  book  on  these 
notes  he  had  seen  a  preface  in  which  the  compiler  dedicates 
his  book  to  Pope  Gregory,  and  states  that  he  collected  these 
notes  by  his  cotoimand."  Attention  is  also  called  to  the 
names  of  the  Roman  emperors  given   in  the  list  of  these 

(13) 


14  HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

notes  published  by  Gruter,  the  last  name  being  that  of  An- 
toninus, which  would  indicate  that  the  date  of  these  notes 
was  not  long  after  the  reign  of  that  emperor  (A.  D.  138 — 
161). 

A  few  of  the  "  notes  "  taken  from  the  first  page  of  Gruter's 
list  will  serve  as  specimens.  The  whole  list  comprises  sev- 
eral thousand  words  and  terminations  arranged  in  columns 
without  any  particular  order,  and  rather  rudely  engraved  ;  a 
sort  of  moles  indigesia,  as  Carpentier  calls  it,  not  very  en- 
couraging to  one  who  would  hope  to  find  in  it  a  key  to  the 
Roman  system  of  short-hand. 


^. 

de 

L. 

per 

2 

ne 

< 

an 

^ 

di 

7 

pro 

2L. 

ui 

> 

ac 

\ 

dis 

ti 

pre 

^ 

num 

H 

nescio 

V- 

ex 

f>^ 

re 

^ 

enim 

^ 

nescit 

1 

ad 

S 

se 

n 

et 

W 

alit 

:> 

con 

5^ 

sibi 

u 

sese 

A\ 

me 

I 

in 

n 

trans 

o 

circum 

• 

s 

super 

a 

§b 

h 

a 

o. 

circa 

1i 

tibi 

A  small  table  of  the  same  "  Tironian  notes  "  is  given  by 
Mabillon  (De  Re  Diplomatica,  Lutetia3  Parisiorum,  1681,  p. 
457),  from  which  I  take  the  following: 


h 

a 

^ 

fecit 

T» 

panem 

lo 

tuo 

V 

bonis 

Cs" 

gloria 

% 

quia 

^ 

tua 

G 

cor 

«>» 

nos 

•y;- 

regis 

U 

h. 

via 

V 

deus 

5^ 

omnibus 

S< 

suas 

n3 

tibi 

HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY.  15 

A  very  full  account  of  these  "Tironian  notes,"  together 
with  representations  of  certain  charters  or  decrees  of  Louis 
the  Pious,  successor  of  Charlemagne,  written  in  these  short- 
hand characters  in  a  royal  codex  of  the  ninth  century,  was 
published  in  1747,  at  Paris,  by  Pierre  Carpentier,  under  the 
title  "  AliDhabetum  Tironianum,  seu  Notas  Tironis  explicandi 
Methodus,"  <&c.  The  system  seems  to  be  substantially,  if 
not  wholly,  the  same  as  that  of  the  notes  given  by  Gruter 
and  by  Mabillon.  Carpentier  does  not  give  any  alphabet  of 
the  characters  for  letters,  but  arranges  in  alphabetical  order 
about  six  hundred  words  with  the  signs  that  represent  them. 
From  this  list  it  appears  that  twenty-one  letters  were  repre- 
sented by  at  least  sixty-seven  characters,  a  different  charac- 
ter being  used  for  the  same  letter  in  different  words.  In 
fact,  the  system  seems  to  be  devoid  of  any  certain  or  uni- 
form rule.  Numerous  tables  of  signs  for  terminations  are 
added  in  which  the  same  irregularity  and  uncertainty  is 
apparent. 

The  following  is  a  representation  of  one  of  the  charters  of 
Louis  the  Pious,  written  in  these  "notes"  during  thS  early 
part  of  the  ninth  century,  copied  from  a  fac-simile  given  by 
Carpentier.  I  have  altered  the  division  of  the  lines  in  order 
to  bring  it  to  the  width  of  the  page,  but  have  preserved  the 
size  of  the  characters  and  the  closeness  of  the  writing,  so  as 
to  show  the  general  appearance  and  the  degree  of  compact- 
ness of  the  original.     I  also  give  Carpentier's  Latin  version. 

Each  portion  of  the  version  indicated  by  the  figure  in  the 
margin  corresponds  to  one  line  of  the  short-Jiand  fac-simile. 


16  HISTORY   OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

[CHARTA   XXXIII.] 


O.'j;  ^,.'?-^'''V  "^-^T  -V  IC^^*^"  '^^^^  Ut  c<*/3^  9/  V^  -^  31 
/-^H.V>trv,  H.  ^  ^  -h-tT  vx<J,n^7  V^,^  —  -iX  «^  » 

[CHARTA  XXXIII.] 

1.  Omnibus  episcopis,  et  cetera.    Notum  sit  quia  vos  prsesentes  Hebrseos 

Davidem,  nunnum  Davidis,  et  Josepli,  atque  Ammonicum  pares 
eorura  habitantes  in  Lugduno 

2.  civitate,  sub  nostra  defensione  suscepiraus  ac  retinemus.    Quaprop- 

ter  per  praesentera  auctoritatem  nostrara  decernimus  atque  jube- 
mus  ut  neque  vos,  neque  juniores,  seu  succcssores  vestri 

3.  memoratos  Hebrseos  de  nullis  quibuslibet  illicitis  occasionibus  in- 

quirere,  aut  calumniara  generare  praesumant,  nee  de  rebus  eorum 
propriis,  quae  ex  ligitiraa  adquisitione 

4.  habere  visi  sunt,  vel  in  quibuslibet  locis  praesenti  tempore  legaliter 

vestiti  esse  videntur,  aliquid  abstraliere  aut  minuere,  aut  aliquem 
calumniara  ullo  uuquara  tempore 
6.    (facere)  audeant;  sed  nequa  teloneum,  ueque  paravereda,  aut  mansi- 
ouaticura,  aut  pulveratlcum,  aut  cespitaticum,  aut  ripaticum,  aut 
rotaticum,  aut  portaticnm,  aut  tranaticum,  aut 

6.  pontaticum,  aut  foraticum  a  praedictis  Hebraeis  exigere  praesumant: 

sed  liceat  eis  sub  mundeburdo  et  defensione  nostra  quiete  vivere, 
et  partibus  palatii  nostri 

7.  fldeliter  deservire.     Similiter  concediraus  eis  de  rebus  eorum  commu- 

tationem  facere  cum  quibuslibet  homiuibus  voluerint;   liceatque 
eis  secundum  legem  eorum 


HISTORY   OF     STENOGRAPHY.  17 

8.  vivere,  et  homines  Cliristianos  ad  eorum  opera  facienda  locare,  ex- 

ceptis  testis  et  diel)us  Domiiiicis.     Hubeant  etiam  licentiam  man- 
cipia  percgriiia  emere,  et  infra 

9.  imperium  nostrum  vendere,  et  nemo  fldelium  nostrorum  prsesumat 

eorum  mancipia  pcregrina  sine  eorum  consensu  ac  voluntate  bap- 
tisare.     Quod  si  Cliristianus  causam  vel  litem 

10.  contra  eos  habuerit,  tres  idoneos  testes  Cbristianos  et  tres  Hebraeos 

similiter  idoneos  in  testimonium  suum  assumat,  et  cum  eis  causam 
suam  judicet.     Et  si  causam 

11.  vel  litem  contra  Christianum  habuerint,  Cliristianos  testes  in  testi- 

monium sibi  adhibeant,  et  cum  eis  convincant.     Nam  si  aliquis 
illoram,  Cbristianus  aut  Judseus,  veritatem  occultare 

12.  voluerit,  comes  loci  illius  per  veram  inquisitionera  faciat  unumquem- 

que  illorum  secundum  legem  suam  veritatem  dicere.     Quod  si 
etiam  aiiquae  causa)  adversus  cos  de 

13.  rebus,  vol  mancipiis  eorum  surrexerint  vel  ortae   fuerint,  qua;  infra 

patriam  absque  gravi  et  iniquo  dispcudio  delinitse  esse  nequiver- 
int,  usque  ad 

14.  prsesentiara  nostram  sint  suspensse  vel  conservatai,  qualiter  ibi  secan- 

duni  legem  fluitivam  accipiaut  sententiam.    Et  haec  omnibus  vobis 
uotum  esse  volumus  ut  jam 

15.  quia  snpi'a  scriptos  Htbra^os  sub  mundeburdo  et  defeusione  nostra 

suscepimus.    Quicumque  in  morte  eorum,  quamdiu  fldeles  nobis 
exstiterint,  consiliaverit  aut  aliqucm  ex 

16.  illis  interfecerit,  sciat  se  ad  partem  palatii  nostri  decern  libras  anri 

persoluturum,  et  nemo  ssepe  dictis  Hebra^is  flagellis  caedere  prse- 
sumat, 

17.  nisi  probati  fuerint  secundum  legem  eorum  eos  capitula,  qase  a  nobis 

eis  servanda  promulgata  sunt,  violasse  atque  interdlcta  fecisse,  in 

18.  quibus  similiter  deflnitum  est  pro  quibus  culpis  flagellis  sint  ca;dendi. 

Hauc  vero  auctoritatem 

• 
In  the  following  translation  I  have  endeavored  to  give  the 

meaning  as  nearly  as  possible  ;  but  some  of  the  mediteval 

Latin  words  are  of  doubtful  significance. 

CHARTER  XXXIII. 

"To  all  bishops,  etc.     Be  it  known  that  we  receive  and 

take  under  our  protection  these  present  Jew^s  [David,  David's 

uncle,    and  Joseph    and    Ammonicus,   their   companions,] 

dwelling  in  the  city  of  Lyons.     Wherefore,  by  our  present 

2 


18  HISTORY    OF   STENOGRAPHY. 

authority  we  decree  and  command,  that  neither  you,  nor  your 
subordinates,  nor  your  successors  shall  presume  to  accuse  or 
calumniate  the  said  Jews  on  any  unlaAvful  occasion  whatso- 
ever ;  nor  dare  to  take  or  injure  any  of  the  property  which 
they  now  are  known  to  possess  by  laAvful  means  in  any 
places  whatsoever ;  nor  to  utter  ever  at  any  time  any  calum- 
ny against  them  ;  nor  presume  to  exact  from  the  aforesaid 
Jews  any  [tax  for  customs,  post-horse,  lodging,  labor,  turf, 
river-bank,  highways,  harbors,  roads,  bridges,  or  gateways  ;] 
but  that  it  may  be  i^ermitted  to  them  inider  our  patronage 
and  protection  to  live  in  peace  and  faithfully  to  attend  to  the 
offices  of  our  palace.  Likewise  we  grant  them  the  right  to 
make  exchange  of  their  goods  with  whatsoever  men  they 
may  wish  ;  and  it  shall  be  permitted  to  them  to  live  accord- 
ing to  their  law,  and  to  hire  Christian  men  to  perform  their 
work  except  on  festival  days  or  the  Lord's  days.  They  shall 
also  have  license  to  })urchase  foreign  slaves  and  to  sell  them 
within  our  empire,  and  no  one  of  our  faithful  [sul)jects] 
shall  presume  to  baptize  their  foreign  slaves  without  their 
consent  and  will.  If  a  Chi-istian  shall  have  cause  or  suit 
against  them  he  shall  bring  for  his  evidence  three  credible 
Christian  witnesses,  and  likewise  three  credible  Jews,  and 
with  them  shall  try  his  cause.  And  if  they  shtdl  have  cause 
or  suit  against  a  Christian  they  shall  biing  Christian  wit- 
nesses for  their  evidence,  and  with  them  shall  prove  their 
case.  But  if  any  one  of  them,  Christian  or  Jew,  shall  en- 
deavor to  conceal  the  truth,  the  officer  [co»?e.s]  of  that  place 
shall  by  true  inquiry  cause  each  of  them  to  tell  the  truth 
according  to  his  law.  If  also  any  causes  relating  to  their 
goods  or  slaves  shall  have  arisen  or  been  commenced,  which 
cannot  be  disposed  of  within  the  district  l_palriam'\  without 
heavy  and  unjust  expense  they  shall  be  suspended  or  kept 
•for  our  presence  that  they  may  there  receive  final  decision 
according  to  law.  And  this  we  wish  known  to  you  all,  that 
we  have  now  taken  the  above  mentioned  Jews  under  our 
.patronage   and    protection.     Whosoever  shall  counsel  their 


HISTORY   OF   STENOGRAPHr.  19 

death,  or  shall  kill  any  one  of  them,  as  long  as  they  shall 
remain  faithful  to  us,  shall  forfeit  ten  pounds  to  the  service 
of  our  court ;  and  no  one  shall  presume  to  whip  with  scourges 
the  often  aforesaid  Jews  unless  they  shall  have  been  proved 
according  to  their  law  to  have  violated  the  articles  which 
have  been  promulgated  by  us  to  be  observed  by  them,  and  to 
have  done  that  which  is  forbidden ;  in  which  articles  it  is  also 
stated  for  what  crimes  they  shall  be  scourged  .  .  .   .  " 

The  following  is  a  representation  of  another  of  these  char- 
ters, the  words  being  separated  for  the  convenience  of  the 
reader. 

[CHAUTA  XLV.] 

^  "-^  a^  Itjys  S^T-^  oo*^  -5«  73c^  -j^  ^  V-vv 

i^   L-    7<   ^  ^T   l\    *^»-^    1>^  "Z^  fn,€|,ai^a^te 

>,<»XM/.tt-«^e    Cl^  ^  (^i  i^^^  ^"5^ 

[CHARTA  XLV.] 

CnAUTA    DEN'AUIALIS    ET    IMPKRIALIS. 

1.  Notiim  sit  igitur  omnibus  fltlelibns  nostris,  praesentibns  scilicet  ct  fu- 

turis,  quia  nos  pro  mcrcedis  nostra; 

2.  au-rmcnto  servum  nostrum,  nomine   ilium,   in   procerura  nostrorum 

praesentia,  manu  propria  nostra  excuticntes 


20  HISTORY    OF     STENOGRAPHY. 

3.  a  manu  ejus  dcnarium,  secundum  legem  Sallcam  liberura  fecimus, 

cj  usque 

4.  absolutionem  per  prsesentem  auctoritatem  nostram  conflrmamus,  atque 

nostris  et  fnturis 

6.   temporibus  flrmlter  atque  invlolablliter    mansuram    esse  volumua. 
Pra3cipient.es  ergo 

6.  jubemus,  ut  sicut  reliqui  manumissi,  qui  per  hujusmodi  titolura  abso- 

lutionis  a  rcgibus 

7.  vel  imperatorilius  a  jugo  servitutis  noscuntur  esse  relaxati  ingenui, 

ita  deinceps  memoratus 

8.  ille  per  hoc  nostrum  prseceptum  plenius  in  Dei  nomine  conflrraatum, 

nullo  inquietante, 

9.  Deo  auxiliante,  perpetuis  temporibus  valcat  permanere  bene  ingen- 

uus 
10.   atque  securus.     Et  ut  hrec  auctoritas  flrmior  babeatur  et  per  futura 
tempora  melius  conservetur 

CHARTER  XLV. 

CHAKTKlt  DENARIAL   AND   IMPERIAL. 

'*  Be  it  known  to  all  our  faithful  subjects  both  present  and 
future  that  we,  for  the  increase  of  our  revenue,  have  made 
free  our  slave,  called  .  .  .  ,  in  the  presence  of  our  nobles, 
striking  out  with  our  own  hand,  from  his  hand,  a  denarius 
according  to  the  Salic  Law,  and  by  our  present  authority  we 
do  confirm  his  freedom  and  wish  it  so  to  continue  firm  and 
inviolable  for  our  and  the  future  times.  Having  thus  or- 
dered we  now  command,  that,  as  other  manumitted  slaves  who 
by  a  title  of  this  kind  arc  known  to  have  been  released  from 
the  yoke  of  slavery  by  kings  or  emperors,  so  also  the  said 
.  .  .  ,  by  virtue  of  this  decree  fully  confiimed  in  the  name 
of  God,  shall,  God  helping,  remain  free  and  secure  for  all 
time,  no  one  molesting  him.  And  that  this  authority  may 
be  held  more  fii-m  and  the  better  observed  for  the  future 


CHAPTER    ly. 

PROBABLE   ORIGIN   OF   THE   ROMAN  SHORT-HAND. 

Although  it  is  evident  both  from  the  tables  of  Gruter  and 
from  the  specimens  of  Carpentier  that  the  same  letter  was  very 
often  represented  by  several  enth-ely  different  characters,  and 
on  the  other  hand  that  the  same  character  often  represented 
entirely  different  letters,  yet  one  can  discern  what  might  have 
been  the  original  alphabet  of  the  system,  and  some  at  least 
of  the  characters  have  a  marked  resemblance  to  the  ancient 
Roman  letters.  Carpentier  observes  in  his  preface  that "  there 
is  another  kind  of  notes  which  are  called  singularice,  more  re- 
cently siglce,  in  Greek  aiylat,  because  single  letters  expressed 
a  word.  Of  this  sort  exjimples  arc  common;  S.  P.  Q.  R., 
Senatus  Populusque  Romanus;  P.  R.  E.,  post  reges  ex- 
ados;  A.  A.  S.  L.  M.,  apud  agrum  sibi  locum  monumenti ; 
B.  A.,  bonam  actionem^  or  bonis  auspiciis,  or  bonis  avibus; 
which  may  be  seen  in  Valerius  Probus,  Peter  Diaconus 
and  Magno ;  all  which  Sertorius  Ursatus  has  collected  to- 
gether and  arranged.  And  I  could  easily  believe  that  this 
system  of  notation  was  more  used  by  the  ancients,  since 
it  is  easier  and  swifter."  He  then  cites  a  passage  from 
Valerius  Probus,  to  the  effect,  that  before  the  short-hand 
notes  were  used  it  was  the  custom  with  those  who  could  write, 
especially  in  the  Roman  Senate,  to  note  down  by  the  first 

(21) 


22  HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

letters  certain  words  and  names  for  the  sake  of  brevity. 
This  method  of  abbreviation  wtus  afterwards  much  used  in 
manuscripts  on  account  of  the  scarcity  and  cost  of  parch- 
ment. In  manuscripts  of  the  eleventh  century  scarcely  a 
Dne  occurs  where  there  are  not  from  eight  to  ten  abbrevia- 
tions, and  finally  public  documents  were  rendered  so  obscure 
by  their  use  that  laws  were  passed  to  put  a  stop  to  the  prac- 
tice. In  printed  editions  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  abbre- 
viations are  so  numerous  and  so  complex  as  not  only  to 
fatigue  the  reader  but  even  to  render  the  sense  unintelligi- 
ble.! 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Tironian  notes  grew 
out  of  this  earlier  system  of  the  singiilarice,  or  notce  literce^ 
and  that  the  single  letters  were  at  first  written  in  full,  but 

I    h      3      C  3     'i      —    /^   ^      M 

ABCDEFOH 

A^NOPQRST 

afterwards  in  a  contracted  manner,  and  variously  altered, 
either  in  direction  or  form,  to  distinguish  different  words  be- 
ginning with  the  same  letter ;  marks  for  terminations  being 
subsequently  added  to  the  system.  Supposing  this  to  be  the 
case  we  reproduce,  as  above,  the  original  alphabet ;  selecting 


>  See  Home's  Introduction,  cited  above;   also  Savage's  Dictionary  of  tlio  Art  of 
Printing,  London,  1841. 


I 

K 

L 

1 

K 

L 

u 

•y- 

V 

V 

X 

z 

HISTORY    OF    STENOGKAniY.  23 

from  the  various  forms  representing  each  letter,  in  the  speci- 
mens transmitted  to  us,  that  which  would  seem  to  have  been 
most  naturally  derived  from  the  ordinary  Roman  letter. 

From  the  statement  by  Plutarch,  that  Cicero  statioiled 
several  scribes  in  different  parts  of  the  Senate  chamber  to 
take  down  the  speech  of  Cato,  we  may  infer  that  the  custom 
prevailed  then,  as  in  modern  times,  of  eraplo^nng  a  consid- 
erable number  of  short-hand  Avriters  at  the  same  time  so 
as  to  relieve  each  other  at  short  intervals.  St.  Augustine 
speaks,  in  his  epistle  clii,  of  eight  notaries  assisting  at  his 
discourses,  four  on  his  part  and  four  named  by  others,  who 
relieved  each  other  and  wrote  two  and  two,  in  order  that 
nothing  which  he  taught  might  be  omitted  or  altered.  St. 
Jerome  had  four  notaries  and  six  librarii  or  "transcribers  "  ; 
the  former  wrote  at  his  dictation  by  notes,  and  the  latter 
transcribed  at  length  in  the  ordinary  letters  that  which  the 
notaries  had  written. 2 

The  system  of  reporting  in  the  French  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties before  1849  is  described  as  consisting  in  the  simulta- 
neous employment  of  "nine  roideurs  (that  is,  stenographers, 
who  relieved  each  other  every  two  or  three  minutes),  and 
four  reviseurs  (that  is,  the  most  skilful  stenographers) ,  who 
write  (notent)  for  twelve  or  fifteen  minutes  at  a  time,  and 
are  charged  also  with  the  oversight  and  correction  of  the 
work  of  the  roideurs.^  A  similar  method  is  adopted  by  the 
reporters  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at  "Washington ; 


*  Encyclopedie,  tachi/graphie. 

'  llUtoire  Ue  Stenographic,  cited  above. 


24  HISTORY   OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

each  one  reporting  for  a  certain  number  of  minutes,  and 
then,  while  another  takes  his  place,  carrying  his  notes 
to  the  reporter's  room  where  they  are  written  out  in  long- 
hahd ;  so  that  within  a  few  minutes  after  a  member  has 
finished  a  speech  a  page  can  hand  him  the  whole  for  his 
revision. 

In  the  time  of  Justinian,  contracts,  written  by  the  notaries 
in  abridged  writing  or  characters,  were  not  binding  until  they 
had  been  transcribed  or  written  out  in  full,  and  an  edict  was 
issued  by  him  forbidding  the  employment  of  these  abbrevia- 
tions for  the  future  in  public  writings,  on  account  of  the 
ambiguity  which  might  arise  from  the  resemblance  of  the 
signs.  As  already  stated,  their  use  ceased  entirely  in  the 
tenth  century.  The  decline  of  literature  in  the  following 
centuries  caused  them  to  fall  into  such  oblivion  that  a  short- 
hand Book  of  Psalms,  which  Trithemius  mentions  as  found 
by  him  in  a  monastery,  was  entitled,  in  the  catalogue  of  the 
convent,  "A  Psalter  in  the  Anuenian  language."  The  pos- 
session of  such  manuscripts  was,  in  those  days  of  ignorance 
and  superstition,  considered  proof  of  sorcery  and  witchcraft, 
and  both  the  manuscripts  and  their  owners  were  ruthlessly 
consigned  to  the  flames. 


CHAPTER    y. 

MODERN   SYSTEMS    OF    SHORT-HAND. 

After  the  disappearance  of  the  notce  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  revival  of  the  art  of  short-hand  until  the  latter  part 
of  the  sixteenth  centuiy,  when  a  Mr.  Ratcliff,  of  Plymouth, 
in  England,  is  said  to  have  proposed  a  kind  of  short-hand 
writing  by  retaining  the  ordinary  letters,  but  omitting  the 
vowels  and  such  consonants  or  even  syllables  as  could  be 
spared  without  rendering  the  writing  unintelligible.  This 
system  was  published  at  London,  in  1688,  after  the  death  of 
the  author.  In  1588,  a  system  by  Timothy  Bright,  called 
"  Characterie,  An  Art  of  Short,  Swift,  and  Secret  writing, 
by  Character,"  was  published  at  London,  in  which,  as  in  the 
Tironian  notes,  each  word  was  represented  by  a  distinct  sign, 
the  whole  being  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  dictionary. 

The  first  attempt  to  invent  a  shoii-hand  alphabet  was  by 
John  Willis,  whose  "Art  of  Stenographic  or  Short- Writing  " 
was  published  at  London  in  1602.  An  interesting  descrip- 
tion of  his  system  is  given  in  "  An  Historical  Account  of 
Short-Hand"  by  James  Henry  Lewis, ^  by  which  it  appears 
that  Willis  omitted  such  letters  as  are  superfluous  or  imper- 
fectly sounded,  and  employed  two  sizes  for  each  character, 
distinguishing  most  of  the  vowels  and  diphthongs  by  the  junc- 

'  Printed  at  London  \rithoat  date,  but  soon  alter  the  year  1815. 

(25) 


26  HISTORY    OP    STENOGRAPHY. 

tion  of  the  small  character  to  the  large,  or  the  large  to  tne 
small  in  various  positions.  The  short  vowels  he  expressed 
by  dots.  He  also  made  use  of  symbolical  and  special  ab- 
breviations. Some  of  the  characters  in  his  alphabet  repre- 
senting simple  letters  were  compounded  of  more  simple 
characters  already  used  for  other  letters,  a  defect  which  con- 
tinued in  all  the  systems  which  succeeded  that  of  AVillis 
until  the  invention  of  the  loop  system,  published  by  Byrom, 
in  1767.  Another  defect  of  this  system,  and  of  the  others 
founded  on  a  similar  plan,  is  that  the  characters  do  not 
readily  join  to  form  words. 

John  Willis's  system  was  used  by  Thomas  Lechford,  author 
of  "Plaine  Dealing  or  Newes  from  New  England's  Present 
Government,"  &c.,  London,  1642.  (See  edition  by  J.  Ham- 
mond Trumbull,  Boston,  1867,  pp.  xxxvin  and  XL.) 

During  the  two  hundred  years  which  followed  the  publi- 
cation of  Willis's  work,  a  gi-eat  number  of  systems  were 
published  in  England,  many  of  them,  however,  differing  only 
in  some  of  the  characters  or  in  the  directions  for  writing. 
The  alphabets  of  nearly  all  of  them  are  exhibited  by  Lewis  in 
his  book  above  referred  to .  As  that  book  is  now  rare^  I  have  re- 
produced, in  the  two  accompanying  tables,  forty-four  of  these 
alphabets,  leaving  out  only  those  which  are  less  important  as 
being  wholly  or  nearly  like  others  that  had  preceded  them 
(see  after  p.  45).  A  reference  to  these  may  be  a  con- 
venience as  a  partial  guide  to  those  who  have  occasion  either 
to  study  the  history  of  the  art,  or  to  decipher  short-hand 

3  The  only  copy  I  have  met  with  is  in  the  Boston  Public  Library. 


HISTORY   OF    STENOGRAPHT.  27 

manuscripts  of  that  period.  It  should  be  observed,  how- 
ever, that  the  value  of  a  system  cannot  always  be  measured 
by  its  alphabet  alone.  For  a  more  particular  description  of 
the  various  systems  I  would  refer  the  reader  to  the  account 
given  by  Lewis,  whose  extended  investigation  and  ingenious 
criticisms  render  his  work  an  authorit}'  on  the  subject.  At 
the  conclusion  of  his  account,  Lewis  makes  the  following 
statement :  "  My  library  of  Short-hand  books,  and  manu- 
script curiosities  in  the  art,  are  (I  believe)  unrivalled  in  this, 
or  any  other  country.  Many  of  the  volumes  described  in 
the  present  publication  are  unique,  and  have  only  been  col- 
lected at  a  great  expense  of  time  and  labor  ....  My 
collection  has  cost  me  more  than  fifteen  years  labor,  and  an 
expense  of  more  than  five  hundred  pounds." 

I  have  also  selected  a  few  of  Lewis'  observatiohs  on  some 
of  these  systems,  as  pointing  out  the  successive  improve- 
ments in  the  art. 

In  the  system  of  Edmond  Willis  (1G18  and  1627)  the 
vowels  and  diphthongs  are  expressed  "  by  dots  or  letters 
placed  about  a  character"  in  various  positions.  He  also 
employed  "  a  number  of  marks  (drawn  from  the  alphabet) 
to  represent  the  double  and  treble  consonants  that  begin 
and  end  words."  He  noticed  the  frequency  of  I  and  r  as  a 
second  letter  in  initial  double  consonants  ;  and  that  h,  ?,  m, 
n  and  r  when  initial  are  followed  by  a  vowel.  He  also  sug- 
gested a  sort  of  mental  short-hand  practice,  advising  the 
learner  to  imagine  the  short-hand  for  words  casually  heard. 

Theophilus  Metcalfe  (1645)  denoted  the  vowel  between 


28  HISTORY   OP    STENOGRAPHY. 

two  consonants  by  placing  the  second  consonant  in  the  vowel 
position  (a  method  used  some  years  before  ;  see  below  p.  32). 

The  system  of  Jeremiah  Rich  (1669),  which  resembled 
that  of  Metcalfe,  furnished  a  foundation  for  those  of  Nathan- 
iel Stringer,  Samuel  Botley,  William  Addy  (1695),  Henry 
Barmby  (1700),  Samuel  Lane  (1716),  and  Philip  Doddridge 
(1805). 

"The  most  celebrated  short-hand  writer  of  the  17th  cen- 
tury was  William  Mason"  (1672,  1682  and  1707).  His 
Bystem,  as  well  as  that  of  Rich,  is  said  to  have  been  chiefly 
remarkable  for  methods  of  contraction  by  the  use  of  dots 
and  other  marks  in  various  positions.  The  systems  of  John 
West  (1690),  Thomas  Gurney  (1753),  John  Angell  (1758), 
James  Swaine  and  Joseph  Simms  (1761),  and  Edward 
Hodgson  (1766),  were  founded  upon  Mason's. 

Elisha  Coles  (1674)  represented  repetitions  by  the  use  of 
a  hyphen,  or  underscoring ;  also  a  difference  in  monosylla^ 
bles  by  a  difference  in  position. 

Abraham  Nicholas  (1692)  represented  vowels  and  diph- 
thongs by  the  position  of  dots,  or  of  the  following  consonant 
character.  His  characters  for  the  consonants  are  derived 
partly  from  the  ordinary  letters. 

James  Weston's  alphabet  (1727  and  1745)  was  the  same 
as  that  of  Metcalfe  (1645).  He  employed  the  dot  as  a  sign 
of  temiination.  A  part  of  his  book  consisted  of  a  "Dic- 
tionary, or  an  Alphabetical  Table,  containing  almost  all  the 
words  in  the  English  tongue,  with  the  Short-hand  over 
against  each  word."     A  number  of  books  were  printed  in 


hiSTORY    or    STENOGRAPHY.  29 

his  characters,  among  which  were  a  gi-ammar,  a  dictionary, 
the  psalms,  the  New  Testament,  and  many  books  of  the 
Church. 

In  Jeake's  system  (1748),  the  vowels  a,  e,  t,  o,  and  the  h 
are  suppressed,  and  the  remaining  nineteen  letters  grouped 
as  follows  :  <Z,  t, — Z,  r, — 771,  n, —  m,  u', — c,  s,  x  z, — 6,  f,  j), 
V, — g,  j,  k,  q, —  ?/,•  each  group  having  but  one  character 
assigned  to  it. 

Gurney's  system  (1753)  was  founded  upon  Mason's.  It 
has  been  practised  in  the  courts  of  law,  and  under  govern- 
ment patronage  in  England  by  his  ftimily  and  descendants  to 
the  present  day.  (See  Encyclopaedia  Brittanica,  8th  Edi- 
tion, Slenography .) 

The  "Art  of  Short-Hand  Improved"  by  David  Lyle,  Lon- 
don, 1762,  was  based  upon  principles  different  from  those  of 
any  preceding  system.  In  his  preface  he  observes  that  "  to 
^arry  the  art  to  a  greater  degree  of  perfection,  these  four 
ends  ought  to  be  kept  in  view. .  1.  The  most  simple  char- 
acters possible  ought  to  be  found  out,  and  their  conveniency 
of  writing  and  joining  considered,  in  order  to  signify  all  the 
principal  simple  sounds  and  their  modifications,  and  as  many 
compound  ones  as  can  be  done  in  a  convenient  and  short 
manner.  2.  An  inquiiy  must  be  made  into  the  English 
language,  with  a  view  to  find  out  aud  state  in  order  all  the 
principal  sounds  and  modifications  of  sound,  together  with 
their  letters ;  and  to  point  out  those  sounds  and  modifica- 
tions of  sound  which  are  most  frequently  used  and  combined. 
3.    Of  these  characters,  those  which  are  most  easily  wrote 


30  HISTORY   OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

and  joined,  must  be  assumed  to  signify  the  letters,  or  the 
sounds  and  modifications,  which  are  most  frequently  used 
and  combined  with  one  another.  4.  The  whole  ouijht  to 
be  abridged  .is  far  as  possible,  to  leave  it  intelligible."  In 
selecting  his  characters  he  made  use  of  elliptic  as  well  as 
circular  curves,  and  also  of  straight  lines,  points,  loops,  &c., 
producing  an  unusual  variety  of  forms.  This  enabled  him 
to  present  a  list  of  some  four  or  five  thousand  words  and 
phrases,  with  short-hand  signs,  which  have  the  appearance  of 
remarkable  brevity ;  but  this  advantage  is  counterbalanced 
by  the  fact  that  the  abbreviations  are  too  extreme  for  legi- 
bility, and  the  characters  require  too  much  exactness  in  the 
writing. 

The  "Universal  English  Short-Hand,"  by  John  Byrom 
(1767),  receives  high  praise  from  Lewis,  and  is  said  to  form 
a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  art.  He  expressed  the  vowels 
by  dots  in  five  positions ;  classed  the  letters  according  to 
their  affinity  of  sound,  and  adapted  his  characters  to  this 
classification.  For  these  he  chose  the  simplest  straight  lines 
and  segments  of  the  circle.  Having  regard,  however,  to 
the  beauty  and  convenience  of  the  writing,  he  adopted  the 
expedient  of  allowing  for  some  of  the  lettci-s  the  use  of  sev- 
eral characters  differing  in  direction,  and  also  made  use  of 
the  circle  or  loop  combined  with  the  straight  line  or  curve. 
His  characters  were  remarkably  simple  and  well  adapted  for 
joining  together.  He  also  devised  some  ingenious  methods 
of  al)breviating  words  and  phrases.  The  following  is  his 
arrangement  of  the  consonant  sounds : 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY.  31 

;;,  b,  /,    V.       ^  d,   ih,  dh. 

J       J       J  ,       m,  n,  I,  r,  h. 

s,  z,  sh,  zh.     ky  g,  c/i,    j. 

jSIauy  systems  have  been  more  or  less  derived  from  that 
of  Byrom,  as,  for  instance,  that  of  Aulay  Macaulay  (1747), 
and  that  of  Thomas  Mollneux  (1804.)  According  to  Lewis, 
Macaulay 's  was  largely  derived  from  the  unpublished  manu- 
script of  Byrom's  system. 

The  system  of  W.  J.  Blanchard  (1786),  is  said  by  Lewis 
to  far  surpass  all  that  had  preceded  it,  particularly  in  regard 
to  methods  of  contraction. 

The  "  New  System  of  Short-hand,"  by  Richard  Roe  (1802) , 
is  described  as  "the  first  attempt  to  construct  an  alphabet 
sloping  uniformly  in  one  direction." 

Beside  the  alphabets  given  by  Lewis  there  was  also  that 
of  [Rev.  Thomas]  Archisden,  mentioned  in  a  letter  from 
England  by  Edward  Howes  to  John  Winthrop,  jr.,  Nov.  23, 
1G32.  The  letter  and  the  alphabet  are  printed  in  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Historical  Society  Collections,  4tli  ser.,  vol.  vi, 
p.  481.  The  writer  says,  "As  for  my  usual  characters,  they 
are  that  wherewith  I  conceive  you  have  been  formerly  ac- 
quainted, vizt.  Mr.  Arkistlens  ....  I  thought  good  to 
send  you  his  character  for  fear  you  should  have  forgotten  it, 
as  thus."  (See  alphal)et  No.  45  of  the  accompanying  plate.) 
"They  are  approved  of  in  Cambridge  to  be  the  best  as  yet 
invented  :  and  they  are  not  yet  printed  nor  common." 

This  nlphabet  resembles  very  closely  that  of  Edniond  Wil- 
lis   (1018).     A  very  similar  alphabet  was  used  by  Ralph 


32  "   HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

Fogg,  the  first  clerk  of  the  Quarter  Court  established  at 
Salem,  Mass.,  in  1636,  and  also  at  the  same  time  the  town 
clerk  of  Salem.  From  his  short-hand  minutes  on  his  court 
records  and  town  records  (written  during  the  years  1636- 
1639),  I  obtain  the  characters  given  in  alphabet  No.  46  in 
the  accompanying  plate. 

He  expressed  the  vowels  by  dots  in  five  positions  about 
the  preceding  character,  as  in  the  system  of  Edraond  Willis. 
Vowels  between  two  consonants  he  omitted,  placing  the 
second  consonant  in  the  vowel  place,  as  in  the  system  after- 
wards published  by  Metcalfe  (1645).  A  similar  system  was 
used  by  President  Edward  Holyoke,  in  his  short-hand  ser- 
mons now  in  the  manuscript  collection  of  the  Essex  Insti- 
tute ;  and  also  by  Samuel  Parris,  the  minister  of  Salem 
Village  in  1692  ;  and  by  Thomas  Blowers,  minister  at  Bev- 
erly (1701-29). 3 

Among  the  curiosities  of  the  art  may  be  mentioned  the 
systems  of  Richardson  (1800),  and  of  Blanc  (Paris,  1801). 
The  former  made  use  of  two  perpendicular  and  three  hori- 
zontal lines,  placing  the  character  for  the  second  letter  of  a 
word  in  a  particular  position  on  these  lines,  thereby  indicat- 
ing the  first  letter  and  saving  the  necessity  of  writing  its 
character.  The  latter  made  use  of  the  principle  of  the  musi- 
cal staff,  his  letters  being  represented  by  a  short  stroke  or 

•Thealpliabet  used  by  John  Hull  in  his  Diary,  of  which  a  description  13  given  in 
the  "  Aichseologia  Americana"  (Am.  Antlq.  Socy.)i  Vol.  Ill,  p.  279,  eeems  to  be 
nearly  the  same. 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY.  33 

curve  written  across,  above,  or  below,  one  of  four  hori- 
zontal lines. 

The  system  of  Rev.  W.  E.  Scovil,  of  which  the  sixth 
American  edition  was  published  at  New  York  in  1874,  re- 
sembles the  alphabetic  systems  of  the  last  century,  and,  as 
stated  in  his  preface,  is  indebted  to  Macaulay  in  particular 
for  many  of  the  characters.^  Although  his  alphabet  has  full 
characters  for  the  vowels,  he  also  provides  a  list  of  smaller 
signs  to  be  placed  about  the  consonant  character,  in  var- 
ious positions,  so  as  to  indicate  an  omitted  vowel  or 
diphthong. 

Among  the  alphabetic  systems,  that  of  Samuel  Taylor, 
published  at  London  in  1786,  seems  to  possess  great 
advantage  for  simplicity  and  brevity,  although  perhaps  at 
too  great  a  sacrifice  of  legibility.  The  title  is  as  follows : 
"An  Essay  intended  to  establish  a  Standard  for  an  universal 
system  of  Stenography,  or  Short-Hand  writing,  upon  such 
simple  and  approved  principles  as  have  never  before  been 
offered  to  the  public,  whereby  a  person  in  a  few  days  may 
instruct  himself  to  write  short-hand  correctly,  and  by  a  little 
practice  cannot  fail  taking  down  any  discourse  delivered  in 
public.  By  Samuel  Taylor,  many  years  Professor  and 
Teacher  of  the  Science  at  Oxford,  and  the  Univei*sities  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland." 

This  has  been  much  used  both  in  England  and  in  this 
country,  and  also  in  France,  the  system  of  Bertin   (Paris, 

S  ♦  See  above  p.  31. 


34 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGKAPHY. 


1792)  being  a  modification  of  it.  The  same  system,  copied 
bodily,  Avithout  acknowledgment,  from  Taylors  book,  was 
published  at  Boston  in  1809.  (See  alphabet  No.  47  in  the 
accompanying  plate.) 

In  his  introduction,  Taylor  points  out  what  he  considers 
the  defects  of  preceding  systems,  viz.,  badly  chosen  charac- 
ters, the  representation  of  prepositions  and  terminations  by 
separated  characters,  the  use  of  arbitrages  aud  symbols,  too 
great  similarity  of  characters,  and  finally  the  method  of  join- 
ing words  together  expressing  only  the  initials  of  each.  To 
avoid  these  objections  he  reduces  the  number  of  sounds  for 
wliich  distinct  characters  are  to  be  provided,  to  twenty,  viz., 
6,  c?,  f  or  V,  g  or  j,  h,  k  or  q,  I,  m,  n,  j^,  f,  s,  iy,iCy  x,  y,  ch, 
sh,  t7i,i\u(\  the  termination  ious.  (See  Xo.  39  ih  the  accom- 
paivying  table  of  al[)habcts.)  He  represents  ch  by  a  ciu've 
turned  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  of  they  character  for 
j;  nh  by  a  hook  prefixed  to  the  character  for  si  (h  by  a  hook 
prefixed  to  the  character  for  (;  and  ious  by  a  hook  at  the 
end  of  the  character  for  6-.  Vowels  in  the  qfiiddlc  of  words 
he  omits.  When  Ihey  beirin  or  end  a  wml  he  expresses 
them,  it  strongly  pronounced,  by  a  dot,  u<i  distinction  being 
made  between  the  diftereut  vowels.  Dipl^lhongs  and  final  y 
arc  treated  as  vowels.  His  characters  fwr  b,  m,  and  p  are 
perhaps  not  well  chosen,  being  more  diffijcult  for  initials  than 
simple  curves  would  be;  but  he  states/ that  Z/ may  often  be 
omitted.  The  1()()[)  foinis  may  be  turned  either  way  in  join- 
ing. He  omits  h  iii  the  middle  of  worlls,  and  very  often  at 
the  beiiinninir.     Certjiin  connnon   tern/inations  are  denoted 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY.  35 

by  a  dot  or  short  stroke  in  various  positions.  The  character 
for  d  is  written  downwards,  and  the  same  stroke  upwards  is 
used  for  r  when  joined  to  another  letter. 

An  abstract  from  one  of  his  plates  will  show  the  brevity 
of  the  writins:. 

•V.  .>£h^    -?  —    -^   -o-       «^  C  •  <r^  o^  <r—   •    ^^  9^/^  •&  ^"^ 

[In  the  above  some  of  the  words  are  expressed  by  their  initials.  The 
following  is  the  same  in  lo»(/-hand.'} 

"It  has  been  observed  l)y  writers  of  moralit}',  that  in  order 
to  quicken  hiunan  industry',  providence  has  so  contrived  it, 
that  our  daily  food  is  not  to  be  procured  without  much  pains 
and  labour.  The  chase  of  \birds  and  beasts,  the  several  arts 
of  tishing,  with  all  the  different  kinds  of  agriculture,  are 
necessary  scenes  of  l)usiness\  and  give  employment  to  the 
greatest  part  of  mankind.  If  we  look  into  the  brute  crea- 
tion, we  find  all  its  individiVals  engaged  in  a  painful  and 
laborious  way  of  life,  to  procuyc  a  necessary  subsistence  for 
themselves,  or  those  that  grow  Vip  inider  them.  The  preser- 
vation of  their  being,  is  the  wl\ole  business  of  it.  An  idle 
man  is  therefore  a  kind  of  mwnster  in  the  creation.  All 
nature  is  busy  about  him;  eveiV  animal  he  sees  reproaches 


i 


36  HISTORY   OF   STENOGRAPHY. 

him.  Let  such  a  man,  who  lies  as  a  burthen  or  dead  weight 
upon  the  species,  and  contributes  nothing  either  to  the  riches 
of  the  commonwealth,  or  to  the  maintenance  of  himself  or 
family,  consider  that  instinct  with  which  providence  has 
endo'wed  the  ant,  and  by  which  is  exhibited  an  example  of 
industry  to  rational  creatures." 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  avoid  the  use  of 
detached  dots  or  marks  for  vowels  and  diphthongs,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned,  as  possessing  many  points  of  ex- 
cellence, the  "Complete  Guide  to  the  Art  of  Writing  Short- 
Hand,"  by  Thomas  Towndrow,  Boston,  1837.  (See  No.  48 
in  the  table  of  alphabets).  The  author  in  his  preface  quotes 
from  Lewis's  "Ready  Writer,  or  Xe  Plus  Ultra  of  Short- 
Haud,"  to  show  that  "the  mode  of  expressing  the  steno- 
graphic vowels  by  means  of  points  is  not  only  an  enemy  to 
legibility,  but  is  also  calculated  to  destroy  the  purpose  of 
expedition."  This  is  very  clearly  shown  by  calling  attention 
to  the  fact  that  in  making  a  detached  dot,  point,  or  mark, 
not  only  must  the  intervening  space  be  passed  over  as  much 
as  if  a  line  were  described,  but  a  certain  portion  of  time 
must  be  lost  in  the  mere  raising  and  lowering  of  the  pen. 
He  expresses  his  surprise  that  Lewis,  after  so  clearly  point- 
ing out  the  defect  of  this  method,  should  himself,  in  a  great 
measure,  run  into  the  very  same  error. 

During  the  same  year,  1837,  the  phonetic  system  of  Isaac 
Pitman,  known  as  "phonography,"  was  first  published  at 
London.  Pitman's  system,  with  various  modifications  of  it 
by  Graham,  Munson  and  others,  has  been  very  extensively 
used  both  in  England  and  in  this  country.     The  use  of  de- 


HISTORY   OF   STENOGRAPHY.  37 

tached  dots  and  marks  for  vowels  and  diphthongs,  and  the 
distinction  made  between  light  and  heavy  strokes,  reduces 
very  much  the  number  of  sounds  for  which  characters  dis- 
tinct in  form  are  to  be  provided.  The  characters  for  con- 
sonants, therefore,  are  exceedingly  simple,  being  either  a 
straight  line  in  one  of  four  directions  or  a  quarter  circle  in 
one  of  eight  positions ;  and  by  the  omission  of  vowels  and 
diphthongs  a  remarkable  degree  of  rapidity  can  be  attained 
in  the  writing,  especially  if  the  distinction  between  the  light 
and  heavy  strokes  be  disregarded.  One  advantage  of  the 
use  of  detached  marks  for  vowels  and  diphthongs  is,  that  in 
rapid  writing,  the  consonants  may  be  written  alone,  form- 
ing a  sort  of  "  skeleton "  of  the  word,  and  the  vowels  or 
diphthongs  may  be  afterwards  inserted  at  leisure.  To  this 
method,  however,  many  serious  objections  are  urged,  and 
efforts  have  been  made  to  construct  a  system  upon  a  plan 
similar  to  Pitman's,  but  providing  characters  for  vowels  and 
diphthongs  capable  of  being  joined  to  the  consonant  charac- 
ters, so  that  words  may  be  written  without  lifting  the  pen. 
The  system  of  David  P.  Lindsle}',  entitled  "The  Elements 
of  Tachygraphy,"  Boston,  1869,  has  a  list  of  "vocal  signs"  for 
vowels  and  diphthongs,  consisting  of  small  marks  or  points 
which  resemble  those  of  Pitman,  but  are  to  be  written  at  the 
beginning  or  end  of  the  consonant  character  instead  of  being 
detached.  He  has  not,  however,  succeeded  in  w^holly  avoid- 
ing the  use  of  detached  marks  for  vowel  sounds ;  and  he 
retains  the  expedient  of  light  and  heavy  strokes.  The  mi- 
nuteness of  the  "  vocal  siijns  "  renders  careful  writing  nec- 
essary,  for  which  numerous  rules  and  directions  are  given. 

•  448549 


38  HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

The  consonant-characters  are  the  same  in  form  as  those  of 
Pitman,  being  either  straight  lines  or  quarter  circles ;  but 
they  are  differently  distributed  among  the  consonant  sounds. 
The  double  consonants  are  represented  by  hooked  signs  as 
in  Pitman's  system.  The  author  claims  that  the  two  great 
principles  of  continuity  and  lineality,  which  had  been  ap- 
prehended by  some  of  the  stenographic  writers,  but  were 
overlooked  by  phonographers,  have  at  last  been  "secured  in 
Tachygraphy  by  connective  vowels  and  a  skilful  arrangement 
of  the  consonant  letters."  "Experience,"  he  remarks,  "is 
more  reliable  than  theory ;  and  the  practical  success  of  a 
particular  method  is  of  more  value  than  any  explanation  of 
the  philosophy  by  which  that  success  is  gained.  Yet  the 
seductiveness  of  brief  forms,  attained  at  no  matter  how 
much  sacrifice  of  simplicity  and  legibility,  is  so  great,  that 
those  with  but  little  experience  are  very  likely  to  be  de- 
ceived. There  is  somethins:  fascinatinij  in  the  beautiful 
devices  for  contraction  that  leads  the  student  forward  step 
by  step ;  and  he  is  unwilling  to  leave  anything  unlearned 
that  the  science  renders  possible."  In  this  connection  he 
makes  the  very  judicious  observation,  that,  "if  the  student 
memorizes  a  greater  number  of  details  than  he  can  command 
readily,  they  burden  the  mind,  hinder  speed  in  writing,  and 
finally  lead  to  disgust  and  failure."  Like  many  other  sys- 
tems, that  of  Tachygraphy  possesses  two  "styles,"  one  style 
in  which  the  system  is  adapted  for  reporting,  and  another 
"fully-written''  style,  adapted  for  the  less  rapid  kind  of 
writiuir. 


CHAPTER    YI. 

COXCLUSIOX. 

In  concluding  this  brief  history  of  stenography  I  would 
mention,  without  attempting  to  particularly  describe  them, 
two  systems  resembling  each  other  in  this,  that  each  is  de- 
veloped in  connection  with  another  invention  having  for  its 
object  a  sort  of  universal  language.  The  first  is  that  of 
Bishop  Wilkins  in  his  "  Essay  towards  a  Real  Character  and 
a  Philosophical  Language,"  printed  for  the  Royal  Society,  at 
London,  in  16G8;  and  the  second  is  the  "Universal  Line- 
Writing  and  Steno-Phonography,  on  the  basis  of  'Visible 
Speech,'"  b}'  Alexander  Melville  Bell,  published  at  London 
in  1869. 

Bishop  Wilkins,  in  his  most  remarkable  and  ingenious 
work,  havins:  first  arrana'cd  "all  such  thin^^s  and  notions  as 
fall  under  discourse,"  according  to  a  philosophical  analysis 
into  genera,  species,  differences,  etc.,  proceeds  to  invent  a  lan- 
guage in  which  each  sound  represents  a  definite  idea ;  and 
also  a  writing  or  "real  character"  in  which  each  mark  repre- 
sents likewise  a  definite  idea.  This  "real  character"  is  a 
horizontal  line  with  various  marks  joined  to  it  so  as  to  indi- 
cate the  "genus,"  "species,"  &c.,  T)f  the  idea  to  be  repre- 
sented. For  pronouns,  prepositions,  adverbs,  modes,  &c., 
he  makes  use  of  dots,  strokes  or  points  placed  above,  on, 

(39) 


40  HISTORY   OF     STENOGRAPHY. 

or  below  the  line  of  the  "  real  character."  To  complete  his 
work  he  added  also  two  kinds  of  writing  for  representing 
sounds,  the  one  being  "more  facile  and  simple^  the  other 
more  complicate,  but  with  this  advantage,  that  it  hath  in  the 
shape  of  it  some  resemblance  to  that  configuration  which 
there  is  in  the  organs  of  speech  upon  the  framing  of  [the] 
several  letters,  upon  which  account  it  may  deserve  the  name 
of  a  natural  character  of  the  letters."  In  the  first  or  more 
simple  writing,  the  consonants  are  represented  b}'  perpen- 
dicular lines  or  curves  distinguished  from  each  other  by 
small  marks  at  the  top  or  bottom.  The  vowels  are  repre- 
sented by  loops  or  hooks  at  the  top,  middle,  or  bottom  of 
the  consonant  character.  In  the  other  method  of  writing, 
each  sound  is  represented  by  a  figure  intended  to  resemble 
the  configuration  of  the  organs  of  speech  and  the  nature  of 
the  utterance.  To  make  this  more  plain  there  are  engraved 
pictures  exhibiting  the  position  of  the  mouth  parts  for  each 
sound.  His  arransrement  of  the  consonants  shows  a  careful 
study  of  the  true  nature  of  their  distinction.  I  omit  those 
not  used  in  English  pronunciation. 

I      Root.  J    Inmost  palate.    I  c     g    ng 


Tongue. 

root  of  the  teeth. 


Top.!..Lr„'??,:'?^f,^^"'-|        t     d     n     th    dh     1     r      Bh      zh     8     z 


O-I-iP-  !   Ss^'l'/rh^'t'eeth.S         P     b     m     f     V 

In  the  above  table  c,  </,  ng,  ih,  dh,  sh,  and  zh,  have  re- 
spectively the  sounds  as  heard  in  the  following  words  :  car, 
go,  sing,  thin,  then,  sheer,  a^ure. 

The  consonants  are  described  as  those  letters  "in  the  pro- 


HISTORY   or    STENOGRAPHY.  41 

nouucing  of  which  the  breath  is  intercepted  by  some  collision 

or  closure  amongst  the  instruments  of  speech ; "  the  vowels 

being  those  in  the  pronunciation  of  which  "the  breath  is 

freely  emitted."     He  calls  the  vowels  o,  o,  d,  a,  a,  and  e 

"greater."     The  "lesser  vowels"  are  divided  into 

*^ Sonorous;  of  which  it  may  be  said,  that  they  do  some- 
what approach  to  the  nature  of  consonants,  and  are 
meclice  potestatis;  because  when  they  are  joyned 
with  any  Vowel  to  compose  that  which  we  call  a 
Diphthong,  they  put  on  the  nature  of  Consonants; 
and  when  they  are  not  so  joyned,  but  used  singly, 
they  retain  the  nature  of  Vowels,  which  is  the  reason 
why  it  hath  been  so  much  disputed  amongst  some 
Learned  Men,  whether  they  are  to  be  reckoned 
amongst  Vowels  or  Consonants. 
These  may  be  distinguished  into 

''  Labial;    by  an  emission  of  the  breath   through  the 
Lips,  more  Contracted  (w)  [as  in  we,  or  oo  as  in 
foodj.i 
Lingual;    when  the   breath   is   emitted   betwixt   the 
middle  of  the  Tongue  in  a  more  Convex  posture 
and  the  palate  (y)  [as  in  ye,  symbol,  thy,  or  I  as 
in  Ih's]  . 
Guttural;  by  a  free  emission  of  the  breath  from  the 
Throat  (u)  [as  in  wp]. 
Mute;  When  the  breath  is  emitted  through  the  Organs 
of  speech,  being  in  the  same  position  as  before :  but 
without  voice ;   to  be  distinguished  as   their   three 
preceding  correspondents,  into 
Labial    (hw)  or  (wh)  [as  in  ivh&vo] 
Lingual  (hy)  [as  in  hevf  ?] 

Guttural  (h)." 


» The  words  enclosed  in  brackets  I  have  added  in  order  to  explain  the  sounds  in- 
tended to  be  represented. 


42  HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

He  considers  j  (as  in  jaav)  a  conipouiid  of  d  and  zh,  and 
cJi  (as  in  c/teev)  a  compound  of  t  and  sh.  The  distinction 
between  what  are  commonly  called  the  hard  and  soft  conso- 
nants {p  and  i,  <  and  cZ,  etc.,)  is  denoted  by  the  words  mute 
and  sonorous  (or  vocal)  the  hitter  having,  as  he  expresses  it, 
"some  kind  of  vocal  sound."  He  makes  twenty-four  "usual 
diphthongs,"  all  composed  of  the. sound  >/  (us  in  yard),  or 
w  (as  in  wov(\),  which  he  treats  as  vowels,  either  "preposed" 
or  "subjoyned"  to  another  vowel  sound. 

The  short-hand  system  of  A.  M.  Bell,  above  alluded  to, 
is  founded  upon  a  table  of  characters,  each  of  which  is  sug- 
gested by  the  configuration  of  the  organs  of  speech  upon 
which  the  pronunciation  of  the  sound  represented  by  it 
depends.  These  characters,  or  symbols,  present  therefore 
to  the  eye,  a  certain  degree  of  analogy  to  the  sounds  rep- 
resented, on  »the  same  principle  as  that  adopted  in  his 
"Visible  Speech,"  which  is  itself  an  extremely  ingenious  and 
extended  improvement  of  the  plan  proposed  by  Bishop  Wil- 
kins.  His  analysis  of  the  sounds  of  speech  (including  all 
possible  forms  of  utterance),  is  very  accurate  and  minute. 
By  a  skilful  use  of  abbreviations  and  arbitrary  characters  he 
provides  a  system  of  short-hand  apparently  well  suited  for 
reporting. 

The  foregoing  sketch  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  art 
of  stenography  shows  the  importance  that  has  been  attached 
to  it  by  many  ingenious  and  learned  men,  and  the  unceasing 
effort  that  has  been  made  to  devise  a  system  of  short-hand 
which  shall  combine  these  three  requisites,  simplicilij,  legi- 
hility  and  brevity. 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY.  43 

"Whether  anything  still  remains  to  be  clone  to  more  fully 
accomplish  this  ohjoct,  or  Avhether  one  system  may  not  be 
better  snited  for  one  kind  of  writing  and  another  system  for 
another  kind,  is  a  qnestion  worthy  of  consideration. 

The  "  phonographic "  systems  founded  on  Pitman's  alpha- 
bet are^  now  the  most  generally  used,  and  are  thought  by 
many  to  constitute  the  final  perfection  of  the  art.  Probably 
no  other  systems  have  been  so  skilfully  elaborated  and  im- 
proved upon  from  time  to  time,  and  none  have  had  the 
benefit  of  so  Avide  a  circulation  and  of  such  earnest  and 
persistent  eftbrts  to  secure  their  general  adoption.  Like  the 
system  of  Taylor  (described  above  p.  3-i)  Pitman's  "Phono- 
graphy" reduces  as  much  as  possible  the  number  of  sounds 
for  which  characters  distinct  in  form  are  to  be  provided. 
Taylor  reduces  them  to  twenty  alphabetic  consonants,  while 
Pitman  reduces  them  to  twenty-one  phonetic  consonant- 
sounds.  In  Taylor's  system  a  single  dot  in  one  position 
answers  for  either  one  of  all  the  vowels  and  diphthongs,  and 
is  only  used  at  the  beginning  or  end  of  words ;  an  expedient 
which  contributes  very  much  to  the  simplicity  of  the  system 
and  to  the  facility  with  w4iich  it  may  bo  acquired,  although 
it  detracts  of  course  from  the  legibility  of  the  writing.  In 
Pitman's  system  on  the  other  hand,  the  consonant  signs 
only  are  written  first  and  the  other  signs  added  afterwards, 
more  or  less  fully  according  to  the  degree  of  accuracy  re- 
quired;  the  latter  consisting  of  dots  or  marks  in  various 
positions  about  the  consonant-characters. 

The   simplicity   of  the  consonant-characters  in   Pitman's 


44  HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 

alphabet,  rendered  possible  by  thus  detaching  the  vowels 
and  diphthongs,  causes  the  phonographic  systems  to  seem 
remarkably  well  adapted  for  the  rapid  writing  of  the  skilled 
and  practised  reporter,  who  learns  to  rely  on  the  representa- 
tion of  the  consonant-sounds  only,  and  upon  the  frequent 
use  of  word-signs  and  phrase-signs.  For  the  more  ordinary 
purposes  of  the  less  rapid  short-hand  writing  a  greater 
degree  of  accuracy  is,  however,  requiied,  particularly  where 
the  writing  is  not  intended  to  be  made  use  of  immediately. 
To  insure  such  accuracy  the  initial  and  final  vowel-sounds 
need  to  be  represented,  and  it  is  often  desirable  to  represent 
them  in  the  middle  of  w^ords.  If,  then,  vowel-sounds  are  to 
be  represented  at  all,  it  is  of  course  a  disadvantage  to  the 
writer  to  be  obliged  to  do  so  by  taking  off  the  pen  and 
putting  in  its  particular  position  the  detached  dot  or  mark ; 
especially  if  he  has  to  write  the  consonant-characters  of  each 
word  first,  and  then  go  back  and  insert  the  vowel-marks, 
or  "vocalize  the  consonant  outline,"  as  it  is  called.  One 
expedient  adopted  to  partially  obviate  this  objection  is,  to 
distinguish  the  accented  vowel  of  a  word  by  writing  the  con- 
sonant outline  either  above,  on,  or  below  the  line  of  writing. 
However  excellent,  therefore,  the  "phonographic"  alphabet 
may  be  as  a  basis  for  a  reporting  system,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  it  is  equally  well  adapted  for  the  less  rapid  kind  of 
short-hand  writing  so  often  desired  in  correspondence,  com- 
position, taking  notes,  &c.,  by  persons  who  cannot  devote 
much  time  to  its  study  and  practice.  For  these  purposes 
even  some  of  the  alphabetic  systems  might  be  found  more 


HISTORY   OF   STENOGRAPHY.  45 

convenient,  as  for  instance  that  of  Taylor,  which  is  equally 
concise  and  much  more  simple  in  method ;  or  that  of  Town- 
drow,  in  which  each  word  is  written  continuously,  the  vowels 
and  diphthongs  being  represented  by  loop-forms  easily  joined 
and  quickly  written,  like  those  employed  for  some  of  the  con- 
sonants in  the  system  of  Byrom  (1767). 

The  plates  on  the  two  following  pages  exhibit  the  alpha- 
bets of  forty-four  systems  published  from  1602  to  1802, 
taken  from  Lewis's  Historical  Account  of  Short-hand  already 
referred  to;  two  alphabets  of  1632  and  1636  not  given  by 
Lewis ;  and  the  alphabet  of  Towndrow  published  in  1837. 
The  one  numbered  47,  is  a  mere  copy  of  that  of  Taylor 
(No.  39).  On  page  48  will  be  found  a  list  of  the  names  of 
the  authors  and  the  dates  of  publication  of  the  alphabets 
exhibited. 


?! 

r 

^- 

\J 

/ 

% 

r- 

>— 

J 

- 

^ 

W 

) 

/> 

1 

\ 

( 

— 
0- 

V 

O 

- 

J 

< 

< 

X 

L 

\ 

/■ 

\ 

\J 

— 

V 

N 

) 

1 

" 

) 

W 

c 

c 

c 

c 

\ 

VJ 

rv 

- 

D 

4 

1 

/-> 

•^ 

*v. 

? 

r; 

1 

r 

<j 

/ 

0 

^ 

n 

1 

1 

( 

- 

/ 

V 

3 
C 

r 

) 

V. 

N 

~ 

c 

/ 

N 

•,r\ 

^ 

0^ 

X) 

VJ 

<r 

0 

^ 

1— 

^j 

r- 

r- 

< 

c 

> 

:> 

• 
/ 

1 

>\ 

J 
b 

C^ 

„  _ 

\ 

X 

> 

n 

o 

c^ 

5 

N 

- 

V 

N 

VU 

c- 

c_ 

- 

• 

•^ 

v«/ 

:> 

A 

I 

L 

0 

I 

^ 

y 

\ 

) 

c 

( 

X 

>« 

N 

a- 

t 

- 

\J 

rN 

• 

J 

r 

o 

• 

r>» 

c 

D 

z' 

\ 

• 

<^ 

iK 

^ 

b 

N. 

• 

> 

y> 

o< 

3- 

M 

CO 

;- 

< 

c 

V 

r 

<JJ 

J 

-I 

0 

t- 

- 

V 

u 

D 

/ 

VJ 

n 

cr 

1 

- 

\. 

• 

> 

c\ 

a 

3- 

K 

H 

1 

< 

- 

v^ 

/% 

V 

r 

T 

Q- 

^- 

^ 

c 

) 

/ 

1 

\ 

I, 

o- 

>. 

- 

>«» 

• 

> 

J 

«: 

>.  r4 

V 

C 

-O 

/ 

<»; 

J 

< 

0 

• 

L 

w 

I 

r> 

\ 

-) 

<?. 

tr 

^. 

b 

- 

• 

> 

Vw/ 

=< 

>o 

1 

M 

H 

o 

\ 

c 

V 

/ 

% 

c- 

i_ 

J 

• 

~> 

VJ 

) 

/-\ 

1 

\ 

C 

VJ 

k 

o 

- 

J 

< 

< 

K 

\ 

S 

\ 

C 

u 

/ 

Vj 

<- 

- 

J 

L 

—i 

v^ 

'v 

y 

/^ 

I 

0 

( 

^ 

fs. 

o 

- 

J 

J 

cfc. 

K 

>^ 

\ 

r-4 

C 

5 

\ 

- 

o 

0 

r 

< 

> 

• 

T- 

c 

) 

1 

I 

K 

o- 

V 

(_ 

\ 

/ 

/ 

>o 

c 

> 

N 

cr 

w 

r 

u 

r\ 

cb 

J 

< 

^ 

< 

u 

:> 

/ 

1 

n 

r 

Cs 

^ 

- 

>^ 

■i 

J 

\ 

t 

<;- 

- 

03 

13 

<3 

- 

w 

r\ 

^ 

r 

3- 

-= 

- 

- 

c 

D 

/ 

V 

O 

K 

•s- 

^ 

1 

\ 

p 

N 

)i 

- 

N 

T-l 

(3 

\J 

c 

o 

^s 

>o 

r 

c 

b 

J 

J 

- 

) 

w 

/ 

'^ 

1 

1 

:» 

0 

\ 

> 

r 

X 

Os 

n 

ff> 

a- 
o 
•a 

\ 

- 

Vy' 

/-^ 

0 

r 

3- 

^ 

• 

3- 

c 

:) 

1 

I 

\ 

b 

cr 

Q. 

v_ 

\ 

/ 

/ 

J 

( 

X 

N 

03 

In 

A- 

< 

V 

v-/ 

^N 

^4 

J 

3- 

-c 
o 

T- 

•<;- 

c 

:> 

/ 

1 

o 

Q. 

r 

^ 

cr 

\ 

> 

> 

K 

SI 

)o 

N 

^• 

o 

2 

V 

C 

A 

/ 

O 

J 

< 

o 

L 

< 

o 

1 

r\ 

\ 

:> 

Q- 

cr 

V- 

b 

- 

> 

> 

VJ 

oC 

y> 

N 

<f 

-2 

< 

- 

L 

r\ 

<k 

r 

3r 

V 

J 

J 

c 

') 

/ 

1 

*-> 

b 

or 

V 

a. 

N 

> 

> 

.^ 

X 

X 

N 

K) 

19 

< 

c 

r 

a) 

J 

1 

cr 

b 

L 

/^ 

D 

/ 

\) 

s 

J 

1 

- 

vy 

, 

> 

/s 

c< 

X 

N 

•*• 

en 

< 

c 

L 

r 

\jj 

J 

1 

"^ 

t- 

v 

V 

u 

5 

/ 

w 

b 

0 

3- 

1 

- 

\ 

• 

• 

rs 

R 

>o 

N 

c<1 

O 

< 

- 

L. 

<^ 

0 

r 

3- 

M 

\ 

3- 

c 

D 

/ 

\ 

U 

v-i 

o»- 

>^ 

^ 

s 

• 

> 

c~ 

/^ 

X 

N 

d 

3 

\ 

- 

\^ 

/~i 

VJU 

N 

3- 

^ 

r* 

r* 

c 

-) 

/ 

\ 

0 

Os 

>- 

'-J 

I— 

• 

> 

.»-> 

^ 

>i 

M 

«-i 

o 

< 

c 

L 

r 

V 

J 

1 

O 

I 

A 

L 

0 

3 

/ 

\J 

\ 

o 

1 

- 

U 

>=< 

> 

/-> 

)^ 

>o 

N 

d 

A 

u 

« 

CH 

be 

r£| 

•H 

1-J 

^ 

r^ 

a 

^ 

0 

Pm 

&* 

f^ 

CO 

-y 

S 

> 

^ 

h^ 

>: 

1 

d3 

i 

or- 

w 

\ 

• 

i 

J 

1 

I 

^ 

r\ 

C 

") 

r- 
/ 

r- 

\ 

— 

1 

^ 

1 

«s 

<s 

5 

s 

«0 

• 

<• 

N, 

• 

/ 

n 

<N 

• 

o 

c 

\, 

t 

D 

• 

a- 

C 

N 

*, 

1 

— 

•' 

^ 

J 

^ 

I 

(0 
4 

I 

- 

N-> 

A 

^ 

h 

3- 

tf> 

• 

• 

c 

) 

/ 

1 

0 

0 

c^ 

<. 

"^ 

\ 

> 

> 

^> 

« 

4- 

55 

2 

1 

- 

O 

r% 

<fe 

N 

3- 

(»;> 

^ 

• 

c 

D 

^' 

1 

« 

0 

0- 

r- 

\ 

> 

<^ 

X 

>» 

N 

4- 

/ 

N, 

^ 

c\ 

^ 

^. 

<i 

• 

3 

^ 

^ 

<<i 

s 

s 

« 

\ 

1 — 

V. 

Cs 

\ 

\ 

Ci 

•^^'q) 

\ 

4 

<0 

• 

/ 

—J 

v-» 

- 

• 

r^ 

A 

c 

• 

r» 

u 

) 

( 

1 

• 

s-/ 

- 

\ 

) 

\ 

• 

■ 

3 

D 

.|o 

) 

^ 

cr 
It; 

V. 

y 

C 

<• 

L 

1 

t 

- 

^ 

^ 

<«. 

o- 

No 

A 

•J) 

o. 

1 

u 

T- 

) 

D 

G 

^ 

3- 

J 

5 

9k 

\j 

1 

/^ 

- 

d 

b 

^ 

•» 

b 

x 

S 

( 

) 

' 

a. 

^ 

< 

I 

- 

• 

6 

L 

^ 

• 

1 

o 

if 

» 

f 

0 

** 

• 

\ 

s 

^ 

• 

s 

V- 

1 

( 

) 

' 

r 

Vs. 

\ 

0 

- 

% 

cr 

X 

>. 

0 

♦ 

(y 

1 
< 

\ 

• 

y 

^ 

c\ 

• 

r\ 

( 

\) 

(> 

!) 

- 

Q. 

c 

•^ 

i 

- 

/ 

C 

J 

^ 

I 

(30 

eO 

\J 

^ 

0 

/ 

/• 

v^ 

>i 

r\ 

^ 

— 

) 

( 

1 

C 

r^ 

c 

X 

0 

s 

D 

! 

1 

>/ 

^ 

o 

oO 

< 

r 

V 

u 

r» 

<D 

J 

ZT 

-C 

r~ 

t— 

c 

) 

/ 

1 

OJ 

b 

o_ 

r 

i^ 

o- 

N 

1 

> 

R 

X> 

N 

«0 

g 
^ 

o 

\ 

VJ 

J 

1 

V— 

/ 

J 

\ 

^ 

\J 

D 

r\ 

C 

0 

r' 

— 

N 

1 

- 

0 

^c 

0 

+ 

\ 

1 

to 

t- 

• 

( 

U 

) 

/ 

^ 

K. 

/ 

1 

^ 

\J 

) 

r\ 

1 

- 

c 

0- 

0 

\ 

- 

^ 

/^ 

K 

\ 

0 

J- 

£; 

1 

/ 

<^ 

- 

\ 

-^ 

A 

\ 

1 

r\ 

\J 

D 

( 

c 

0 

/ 

\J 

r\ 

\ 

- 

• 

V. 

V. 

5 

1 

^ 

c<7 

• 

d 

C 

rs 

• 

b 

o- 

\) 

• 

er 

c 

) 

/ 

1 

• 

Q. 

C 

?- 

\ 

- 

• 

b 

y 

«\ 

^ 

\ 

^ 
^ 

' 

C 

) 

^ 

• 

"^ 

n 

/ 

• 

n 

u 

- 

( 

1 

» 

C 

u 

\ 

) 

\ 

• 

3 

D 

1 

0 

) 

^ 

CO 

\ 

v_ 

i 

—s 

V 

r- 

/ 

I 

» 

>• 

/ 

c 

r. 

D 

0 

- 

>o 

\j 

1 

\ 

"^ 

-^ 

^ 

X 

\- 

J 

O 

♦ 

r 

!) 

U 

• 

/ 

;) 

o- 

• 

(TV 

CJ 

c 

) 

• 

n 

b 

\ 

1 

- 

• 

/ 

a 

(J* 

1 

or 
c< 

4- 

• 

r 

w 

/ 

• 

/-• 

v. 

• 

«— 

u 

:) 

n 

1 

• 

c 

0- 

f> 

0 

- 

• 

I 

J 

X 

J 

N 

(f 

V. 

VJ 

\. 

^ 

r 

r 

/ 

\- 

/— 

u 

r\ 

1 

\ 

<y 

J 

VJ 

c 

- 

I 

/» 

D 

:> 

u- 

^ 

- 

/ 

1 

n 

\ 

^ 

>!• 

/~\ 

y 

c 

1 

- 

b 

'J 

J 

D 

1 

\ 

\ 

) 

6 

9 

^ 

CO 

o 

(9 

0 

/ 

c 

n 

C> 

1 

- 

J 

• 

r 

\J 

D 

c 

1 

0 

/ 

U 

N 

\ 

- 

^ 

-^ 

^ 

X 

^ 

I 

s 

o 

^ 

»» 

0 

1 

— 

^ 

\ 

1 

) 

r 

1 

1 

w 

( 

C 

• 

J 

V 

1 

A 

0 

- 

/ 

\ 

) 

I 

r 

0 

a 

A 

» 

Ti 

O 

i^ 

OO 

A 

•H 

•1-3 

ri^ 

pH 

s 

?i 

0 

p^ 

^ 

u 

05 

V 

li 

> 

t 

X 

^ 

N 

48 


HISTORY    OF    STENOGRAPHY. 


LIST  OF  THE    ALPHABETS    EXHIBITED   IN   THE   ACCOM- 
PANYING PLATES. 


No 

Author. 

1. 

John  Willis    .... 

2. 

EdmdiKl  Willis  . 

3. 

Witt    . 

4. 

Heury  Dix     .     . 

5. 

Mawd 

6. 

Thomas  Shelton 

7. 

Thomas  Shelton 

8. 

Theophilus  Metcal 

fe 

9. 

Jeremiah  Rich   . 

10. 

John  Farthing    . 

11. 

Job  Everardt 

12, 

Noah  Bridges     . 

13. 

William  Mason  . 

14. 

William  Mason  . 

15. 

William  Mason  . 

16. 

Elisha  Coles 

17. 

William  Hopkins 

18. 

Lawrence  Steel 

19. 

Abraham  Nichols 

20. 

Francis  Tanner 

21. 

Philip  Gibbs 

22. 

Aula}'  Macaulay 

23. 

Peter  Annet 

24. 

Thomas  Gurney 

25. 

Henry  Taplin     . 

26. 

Thomas  Stackhous 

e 

27. 

David  Lyle    .     . 

28. 

Alphabet  of  Reason 

29. 

Mark  Anthony  Meilau 

80. 

John  Byrom       .     .     . 

31. 

Wra.  Holdsvvorth  &  Wra 

32. 

R.  Graves  &  S.  Ashton 

33. 

Wm.  Williamson    .     . 

34. 

Thomas  Hervey 

35. 

W.  J.  Blanchard     . 

36. 

W.  J.  Blanchard     . 

37. 

John  Mitchell    .     . 

38. 

Michael  Nash     .     . 

39. 

Samuel  Taylor  .     . 

40. 

William  Graham     . 

41. 

William  Mavor       . 

42. 

Thomas  Hees     .     . 

43. 

John  Crome  .     .     . 

44. 

Richard  Roe       .     . 

45. 

Archisdcn 

46. 

Ralph  Fogg  (Salem)  . 

47. 

(Printed  af  Boston)    . 

48. 

Thomas  Towndrow 

. 

Aldridg' 


Date. 

1G02 

1618 

1630 

1633 

1635 

1641 

1650 

1645 

1669 

1 654 

1658 

1659 

1672 

1682 

1707 

1674 

1674 

1678 

16!)2 

1712 

1736 

1747 

1750 

17o3 

1760 

1760 

1762 

1763 

1764 

1767 

1768 

1775 

1775 

1779 

1779 

1786 

1782 

1783 

1786 

1787 

1789 

1795 

1801 

1802 

1632 

1636 

1809 

1837 


PAET    11. 

A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  PHO]YETIC  SHORT-HAND. 


INTRODUCTION. 

§  I.    Definition  of  Phonetic  Short-hand. 

A  sj'stem  of  short-hand,  in  which  the  writing  represents 
the  component  sounds  of  words  without  regard  to  the  usual 
method  of  spelling,  is  called  phonetic,  to  distinguish  it  from 
that  kind  of  short-hand  in  which  the  characters  are  used 
simply  as  substitutes  for  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  The 
latter  kind,  which  may  be  called  alphabetic  short-hand,  was 
formerly  the  most  in  use,  and  is  still  practised  to  some  ex- 
tent ;  but  the  j)honetic  method  is  now  generally  considered 
the  most  advantageous. 

§  n.    Advantages  of  the  Phonetic  method. 

Among  the  many  reasons  that  may  be  given  in  favor  of 
the  phonetic  method  for  short-hand  writing  the  following 
are  perhaps  the  most  important. 

First.  In  following  a  speaker,  if  one  has  to  write  according 
to  the  rules  of  orthography,  his  memory  is  constantly  taxed 
by  the  irregularity  and  frequent  uncertainty  of  the  usual 
mode  of  spelling.  His  progress,  therefore,  will  always  be 
impeded  in  proportion  as  he  endeavors  to  be  con-ect  in  his 
spelling.    On  the  other  hand,  if  he  uses  the  phonetic  method, 

4  (51) 


52  A   NEW   SYSTEM   OP 

after  he  has  once  acquired  the  habit  of  writing  down  the 
words  according  to  the  sound,  a  habit  which  a  little  practice 
will  render  familiar  and  easy,  there  will  no  longer  be  any 
uncertainty  or  hesitation.  The  writing  will  then  be  almost 
mechanical  and  the  memory  can  be  more  freely  employed  in 
keeping  up  with  the  speaker.  The  importance  of  this  ad- 
vantage may  be  shown  by  referring  to  some  of  the  more 
obvious  defects  of  the  usual  mode  of  spelling. 

Many  of  the  letters  are  often  silent,  and  many  of  them 
have  diiferent  powers  in  different  words.  Of  the  twenty- 
six  letters  of  the  common  alphabet  three  are  duplicates  of 
others,  v/z.,  c,  which  is  the  same  as  either  k  or  s  in  sound ;  q^ 
which  is  in  sound  kw;  and  x,  which  is  ks.  The  sounds  of  th 
in  ether  and  in  other y  and  of  ng  in  singer y  have  no  single  letter 
to  represent  them.  The  following  table  exemplifies  the  va- 
rious powers  which  some  of  the  consonants  have  in  different 
words. 

c  in  call,  cell,  ocean,  sacrifice. 

d  in  (Zay,  mixecZ. 
/  iu/ine,  of. 

g  in  p'ive,  coura<7e. 

n  in  man,  banquet. 

s  in  sand,  please,  pleasure,  sure. 

X  in  taic,  eccert,  anxious,  -STeuophon. 

In  Worcester's  Dictionary  there  are  distinguished  seven 
sounds  of  the  letter  a,  five  of  e,  five  of  i,  six  of  o,  six  of  u 
and  four  of  y.     Beside  the  uncertainty  of  sound  of  many  of 


PHONETIC    SnORT-IIAND.  53 

the  vowel-letters,  the  same  vowel-souud  is  often  represented 
in  various  ways,  as  for  instance  the  long  sound  of  o  as  in 
shoiv,  i/tough,  hoe,  moat,  noie,  beau,  etc. 

/Second.  Ky  using  the  phonetic  method  the  writer  can 
take  down  more  readily  and  accurately  names  of  persons  or 
places,  or  unusual  words  of  which  the  proper  spelling  may 
be  unknown  to  him  or  uncertain.  The  sounds  he  hears 
being  written  down  furnish  the  material  from  which  he  can 
afterwards  write  out  the  words  according  to  the  proper 
spelling.  In  like  manner  when  some  words  are  indistinctly 
heard,  the  few  sounds  that  the  ear  may  detect  will  often  servo 
by  the  aid  of  the  context  to  restore  the  lost  words. 

§  III.    Phonetic  Short-hand  not  an  enemy  to  Orthography. 

The  objection  sometimes  made  that  the  use  of  the  phonetic 
method  in  short-hand  may  create  a  tendency  to  misspell  in 
ordinary  long-hand  writing  could  with  more  reason  be  urged 
against  alphabetic  short-hand.  In  all  the  alphabetic  systems 
the  rules  of  orthograpliy  are  more  or  less  departed  from ; 
silent  letters  and  many  of  the  vowels  are  omitted;  and  rules 
arc  laid  down  for  dropping  one  of  two  similar  letters  coming 
together  in  a  word,  or  representing  c  by  the  character  for 
k  or  by  that  for  s,  etc.  Hence  in  alphabetic  short-hand  the 
writer,  although  obliged  to  have  the  common  spelling  con- 
stantly in  mind,  always  varies  from  it  in  his  writing;  a  prac- 
tice which  might  well  be  supposed  to  cause  confusion.  In 
phonetic  short-hand,  on  the  contrary,  the  common  spelling 


54  A   NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

is  not  ill  the  mind  at  all,  no  regard  whatever  being  paid  to 
orthography,  so  that  the  two  kinds  of  writing,  short-hand 
and  long-hand,  are  kept  entirely  distinct. 

§  IV.   Plan  of  the  Phonetic  System  here  proposed. 

This  system  of  phonetic  short-hand  is  constructed  upon 
such  principles  as  to  afford  an  easy  method  of  rapid  writing 
for  composition,  writing  that  which  another  dictates,  taking 
notes  of  lectures,  addresses  or  testimony,  etc.  For  verba- 
tim  reporting,  that  is,  following  a  rapid  speaker  word  for 
word,  it  would  be  necessary  to  largely  increase  the  use 
of  word-signs  and  abbreviations  ;  expedients  which,  for  such 
a  purpose,  must  be  very  much  relied  upon  in  any  system 
of  short-hand.  Although  some  susrgestious  are  given  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  such  abbreviations  can  be  made,  the 
practical  application  of  the  principles  stated  is  left,  for  the 
most  part,  to  experience  as  the  best  teacher.  Another  object, 
kept  in  view,  has  been  that  the  writing  may  be  sufficiently 
exact  to  bo  read  with  ease  and  accuracy  after  any  interval 
of  time. 

The  system  being  adapted  to  the  English  language, 
sounds  not  properly  belonging  to  it,  but  which  occur  in 
foreign  words  occasionally  introduced,  must  be  represented 
by  the  characters  for  those  English  sounds  which  most  nearly 
resemble  them.  As  the  writing  is  phonetic,  this  can  be  done 
without  any  difficulty,  and  with  sufficient  accuracy  for  all 
practical  purposes. 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  55 

The  following  is  a  brief  description  of  the  plan  proposed : 

First.  The  forms  of  the  characters.  In  the  series  of  char- 
acters which  form  the  basis  of  this  system,  as  the  sounds  to 
be  represented  have  a  relation  to  each  other  dependent  upon 
the  organs  of  speech  with  which  they  are  pronounced,  so  the 
characters  which  represent  those  sounds  have  a  relation  to 
each  other  in  their  form  or  direction.  The  articulate  sounds 
of  speech  are  grouped  together  according  to  a  natural  order 
or  scale  derived  from  a  careful  study  of  their  true  nature. 
Certain  groups  in  which  the  difference  of  sound  is  so  slight 
that  a  mistake  of  one  for  the  other  would  not  lead  to  error 
in  the  reading,  are  represented  either  by  the  same  character, 
or  by  characters  resembling  each  other.  Those  groups,  on 
the  other  hand,  which  differ  most  in  sound,  are  represented 
by  the  characters  which  differ  most  in  form  or  direction. 

Second.  Description  of  the  characters.  Such  characters 
have  been  chosen  as  to  give  to  the  writing,  as  far  as  practi- 
cable, some  of  the  advantageous  qualities  of  long-hand  writ- 
ing, viz.,  that  of  being  somewhat  ideographic  or  pictorial^ 
which  enables  us  to  read  words  and  even  sentences  at  a 
glance ;  that  of  being  continuous,  forming  a  cursive  or  run- 
ning hand  ;  and  that  of  maintaining  the  honzontal  line. 

The  characters  have  distinct  forms,  and  easily  join  to- 
gether in  such  a  manner  that  all  the  words,  except  word- 
signs  and  abbreviations,  may  be  written  continuously,  that 
is,  without  taking  off  the  pen  till  the  word  is  finished. 

It  is  generally  taken  for  granted  as  a  rule  for  the  selection 


56  A   NEW    SYSTEM    OF 

of  characters  that  those  for  the  more  frequent  sounds  ought 
to  consist  of  the  shortest  geometric  lines  and  curves.  Such 
a  rule  is,  however,  liable  to  this  objection,  viz.,  that  the 
shortest  line  or  curve,  Avheu  used  as  a  character,  if  it  di- 
verges from  the  line  of  writing,  not  only  prevents  the  writing 
from  being  horizontal,  but  requires  in  reality  two  movements 
of  the  pen  (unless  it  happens  to  be  followed  in  the  same 
word  by  another  character  in  the  opposite  direction)  ;  the 
first  movement  being  that  which  describes  the  character,  and 
the  second  that  which  returns  the  pen  to  the  horizontal  line 
of  writing.  This  may  be  shown  by  writing  a  succession  of 
parallel  slanting  lines,  when  it  will  be  noticed  that  allow- 
ing the  pen  to  describe,  on  the  paper,  connecting  strokes 
between  the  parallel  lines,  adds  to,  rather  than  diminishes, 
the  speed  with  which  tlic  parallel  lines  may  be  written. 

In  the  following  example,  for  instance,  the  connected 
double  strokes  can  be  made  more  quickly  and  easily  than  the 
same  number  of  simple  parallel  strokes. 

Am/mvm^  ///////////^ 

A  simple  line  or  curve  which  diverges  from  the  horizontal 
line  is  not,  however,  so  objectionable,  if  it  occurs  at  the  end 
of  a  word ;  and  when  it  occurs  at  the  heginning  of  a  word  it 
may  be  so  written  as  to  end  on  the  line  of  writing.  The 
above  objections,  therefore,  against  all  the  simple  lines  and 
curves,  except  those  which  are  horizontal,  are  most  important 
in  connection  with  the  representation  of  sounds  in  the  middle 
of  a  u'ord. 


PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND.  57 

For  these  reasons  I  have  used  most  of  the  simple  lines 
and  curves  which  diverge  from  the  line  of  writing  to  repre- 
sent the  less  frequent  sounds,  viz.,  the  vowels^  which  may  be 
very  often  omitted  especially  in  the  middle  of  a  word.  The 
variation  of  the  simple  lines  and  curves  in  direction  also 
renders  them  well  adapted  for  vowel-characters,  as  this  va- 
riation may  be  made  to  correspond  to  that  of  the  vowel- 
sounds  in  the  natural  scale. 

For  the  frequent  consonants  p^  b,  t  and  d  the  horizontal 
curves  are  used ;  for  k  and  g  the  upright  curve ;  and  for  s 
and  z  the  circle  ;  all  of  which  are  simple  forms. 

The  characters  for  I  and  r  consist  of  a  horizontal  line  pre- 
ceded by  a  short  stroke  upward  to  the  left  for  Z,  and  down- 
ward to  the  left  for  r.  These  forms  combine  readily  with 
the  other  consonant-characters,  and  they  are,  therefore,  well 
adapted  to  represent  consonants  which  combine  so  frequently 
with  other  consonant-sounds. 

The  characters  for  m  and  n  are  straight  strokes  downward 
to  the  left,  the  first  to  the  line  of  writing,  and  the  second 
fvom  the  line  of  writing,  with  connecting  strokes,  which  may 
often  be  dispensed  with. 

For  f,  V,  ih  (as  thm)  and  dh  (as  in  thcw)  an  upward  or 
downward  loop  stroke  is  used.  This  form  of  character, 
though  it  does  not  have  the  simplicity  of  the  straight  line  or. 
single  curve,  is  made  with  equal  facility,  and  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  maintaining  the  horizontal  line  of  writing.  The 
distinctness  in  appearance  of  this  character  from  those  used 
for  the  other  sounds  renders  it  convenient  for  the  few  very 


58  PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND. 

frequent  words  in  which  it  occurs,  such  as  if^  for^  of^  the^ 
this,  that,  those,  then,  there,  therefore,  other,  etc. 

Third.  Use  of  difference  in  length  or  size  of  the  characters. 
The  diiference  between  the  short  vowel-sounds  and  the  corres- 
ponding long  vowel-sounds,  and  also  the  difference  between 
the  two  kinds  of  consonants  commonly  designated  by  the 
words  "  hard  and  soft,"  or  "  surd  and  sonant,"  is  denoted  in 
the  corresponding  characters  by  a  difference  in  their  length 
or  size.  This  method  is  more  convenient  for  the  writer  than 
that  of  using  light  and  heavy  strokes ;  and  may  be  safely 
used,  since  an  occasional  failure  to  make  the  proper  distinc- 
tion will  not  lead  to  error  in  reading,  as  the  context  will 
sufficiently  show  which  of  two  sounds  so  closely  resembling 
each  other  is  intended. 

Fourth.  Compound  sounds.  The  compound  sounds,  which 
are  so  numerous  and  so  constantly  in  use,  are  represented  by 
distinctive  signs  combining  in  a  more  or  less  abbreviated 
form  the  characters  for  the  component  sounds. 

Fifth.  Use  of  word-signs.  "Word-signs  are  added  for 
:a  few  of  the  most  common  words.  To  render  such  signs 
more  easily  remembered  different  classes  of  words  are  rei> 
resented  by  different  sets  of  signs.  The  use,  to  a  certain 
extent,  of  word-signs  which  present  a  different  appearance  to 
the  eye  from  that  of  the  rest  of  the  short-hand  writing  will 
be  found  to  add  to  the  legibility  as  well  as  to  the  rapidity  of 
the  writinjr. 


CHAPTER    I. 

ANALYSIS   OF   THE    ARTICULATE    SOUNDS    OF    THE     ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE. 

§  I.   Ifecessity  of  a  preliminary  analysis.^ 

1.  In  phonetic  short-hand  writing  the  spelling  must  be 
according  to  the  sound  and  without  regard  to  the  ordinary 
rules  of  orthography ;  the  words  being  represented  by  a 
combination  of  characters  which  represent  to  the  eye  the 
component  sounds  as  distinguished  by  the  ear.  It  is  neces- 
sary, therefore,  to  learn  how  to  properly  distinguish  these 
component  sounds  or  elements  of  words  before  one  can  make 
use  of  any  phonetic  system  of  short-hand.  The  ordinary 
method  of  spelling  is  so  very  far  from  truly  representing  the 
component  sounds  of  words,  that  the  phonetic  method  seems, 
to  one  not  accustomed  to  it,  somewhat  difficult  and  even 

unnatural.     This  difficulty,  however,  is  soon  overcome  by  a 

« 

little  stud\'  and  practice  ;  and  when  once  the  phonetic  method 
becomes  familiar,  the  spelling  will  be  much  less  troublesome 
than  in  the  ordinary  writing. 


>  In  preparing  this  analj-isis  I  have  been  particularly  indebted  to  the  following  trea- 
tises  on  the  subject  of  phonetics;  and  to  tliem  I  would  refer  the  reader  for  more  ex- 
tended information  as  to  the  nature  of  all  articulate  sounds,  and  their  relation-?  to  each 
other;  tlie  Alphabet  of  Nature,  by  Alexander. J.  Ellis,  Ap|>.  to  Phonotypic  Journal,  Bath, 
England.  1844.  Science  of  Language,  by  Max  Miiller,  New  Yorlv,  18(j5.  pp.  10;)-1(^.  Ori- 
ental and  Linguistic  Studies,  Second  Series,  by  Prof.  Wm.  D.  Whitntty,  New  York,  1874, 
pp.  •20-2.-.300.  Also  the  works  of  Bishop  WUkins  and  Alexander  M.  Bell  referred  to 
above,  Part  I.,  Chap.  VI. 

(59) 


60  A  NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

2.  The  following  analysis  of  the  vowel-sounds  and  con- 
sonant-sounds will  serve  to  show  the  student  the  manner  in 
which  these  elements  of  words  are  to  be  distinguished.  The 
arrangement  of  them  in  a  natural  classification,  showing  their 
relation  to  one  another,  will  aid  him  also  in  committing  to 
memory  the  short-hand  characters,  which  have  a  correspond- 
ing order  and  relation  to  each  other  in  their  forms. 

3.  The  first  ol)ject  of  this  analysis  is  to  group  the  sounds 
in  such  a  manner  that  they  may  be  easily  committed  to  mem- 
ory in  a  natural  order,  bringing  together  those  which  most 
nearly  resemble  each  other,  and  indicating  with  suflicient 
exactness  the  particular  sound  which  each  character  will  bo 
used  to  represent.  For  this  purpose  an  explanation  of  the 
nature  of  the  sounds  being  necessary,  I  have  made  use  of 
the  definitions  given  l)y  the  bc.>t  writers  on  the  subject  of 
phonetics,  employing,  however,  on  some  points  an  independ- 
ent method  of  analysis  and  arrangement.  The  more  am- 
biguous or  uncertain  terms  generally  used,  such  as  "mnte," 
"semi-vowel,"  "  whispered, "^  "hard,"  etc.,  have  been  avoided, 
and  an  attempt  is  made  to  explain  the  sounds  of  language 
by  the  use  of  a  more  clear  and  definite  nomenclature. 
Though  I  may  not  have  escaped  crlf)rs  in  the  treatment  of 
60  difficult  a  subject,  1  feel  confident  that  none  will  be  found 
of  sufiit.-icnt  importance  to  iin[)air  the  viscfulncss  of  this 
analysis  for  the  purposes  intended. 

§  II.    The  voice  and  llie  hreallnng. 
1.    The  sound   of  the  voice    is    produced    by  the    breath 


PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND.  61 

passing  from  the  lungs  through  the  liuynx  and  causing  a 
vibration  of  the  "  vocal  chords.*^  This  vibration  is  communi- 
cated to  the  column  of  air  enclosed  in  the  "  vocal  tube,^*  that  is, 
the  throat  and  mouth,  or  throat  and  nasal  passages.  In  a 
similar  way  the  sound  of  the  organ-pipe  is  produced  by 
the  vibration  of  the  reed  act i nor  on  the  column  of  air  in  the 
organ-pipe ;  and  so  the  sound  of  the  flute  is  produced  by 
the  vibration  caused  fiy  the  breath  and  acting  on  the  column 
of  air  Avithiu  the  flute.  The  various  articulate  sounds  of 
■speech  are  formed  by  the  voice  being  variously  modified  dur- 
ing its  uttei'ance,  or  obstructed  or  intercepted  at  the  begin- 
ning or  end  of  its  utterance,  by  changes  in  the  form  of  the 
vocal  tube;  the  principal  organs  of  speech  which,  by  their 
varying  relative  positions,  produce  these  changes  being  the 
palate^  the  tongue  and  the  lips. 

2.  The  sound  of  the  voice  may  also  be  modified  by  being 
preceded  or  followed  by  an  unvoealized  breathing ;  that  is, 
a  more  or  less  forcible  expulsion  of  the  breath  while  the 
vocal  chords  are  not  in  a  condition  to  vibrate ;  the  breath, 
when  not  otherwise  checked,  striking  against  the  sides  of 
the  throat  or  the  palate.  This  sound  of  the  unvoealized 
breathing  and  the  sound  of  the  voice  are  not  heard  together, 
since  the  one  must  necessaril}'  cease  when  the  other  begins. 
The  breathing  when  heard  as  a  distinct  sound  becomes  the 
aspirate,  and  is  represented  in  the  ordinary  alphabet  by  the 
letter  h. 

3.  Beside  its  use  as  an  aspirate,  however,  this  breath- 


62  A   NEW   SYSTEM    OF 

ing  has  an  important  influence  on  many  of  the  consonant- 
sounds,  causing,  by  its  presence  in  the  pronunciation  of  the 
consonant  and  the  accompanying  vowel,  the  difference  va- 
riously designated  by  the  words  "hard  and  soft,"  "surd  and 
sonant,"  "whispered  and  spoken,"  "voiceless  and  vocal." 
For  instance  the  difference  between  the  sound  of  s  in  seal, 
and  that  of  z  in  2eal,  is,  that  in  the  former  an  unvocalized 
breathing  precedes  the  vowel-sound,  {he  breathing  being  in 
this  case  obstructed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  the  sibi- 
lant or  hissing  sound.  In  the  sound  of  the  2,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  vibration  of  the  voice  is  immediately  heard,  al- 
though the  breath  which  produces  the  voice  is  obstructed  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  produce  a  sibilant  sound,  but  softer 
and  more  vocal  than  that  of  the  s.  In  the  same  manner  the 
sound  of  s  in  Mxss  differs  from  the  z  sound  in  his,  because  in 
the  former  the  accompanying  vowel-sound  ( i  )  is  followed  by 
a  mere  breathing  which  produces  the  sharp  sibilant  sound, 
while  in  the  latter  the  voice  continues  to  vibrate,  although 
checked  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  a  sibilant  which  is 
softer  and  more  vocal  than  that  of  the  5  sound. 

The  same  difference  exists  between  the  sounds  of  ^  and  6, 
and  also  between  those  of  t  and  cZ,  h  and  g  (as  in  go)tf  and 
r,  til  (as  in  iKm)  and  dh  (as  in  <Aen).  A  similar  distinc- 
tion may  also  be  observed  between  the  sounds  of  wTi  and  Wy 
yh  (as  in  hew)  and  y  (as  in  you)  ;  but  in  the  wh  and  in  the 
yh  the  breathing  is  heard  as  a  distinct  aspirate  or  h  sound. 

4.    The   terms   usually  employed   to   mark    this   distinc- 


PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND.  63 

tion  are  somewhat  ambiguous ;  the  words  "hard  and  soft" 
behig  also  used  to  denote  the  diflfereiice  between  the  two 
sounds  of  g  as  in  go,  g'lW ;  or  the  two  sounds  of  c  as  in  call, 
cell.  The  words  "surd,"  "whispered,"  "voiceless,"  seem 
to  imply  that  there  is  an  absence  of  tJie  voices  which  is  not 
strictly  true,  since  all  the  consonants  when  spoken  aloud,  as 
in  ordinary  language,  require  the  aid  of  the  voice  for  their 
pronunciation.  Even  in  whispered  language  there  is  an  im- 
perfect vibration  of  the  vocal  chords  sufficient  to  produce  the 
various  vowel-sounds,  in  connection  with  which  the  conso- 
nants are  pronounced  with  the  same  differences  (although 
less  marked)  as  when  spbken  aloud.  It  seems  that  the  real 
difference  between  these  two  kinds  of  consonants  consists 
in  the  fact  that  in  pronouncing  the  one,  the  breathy  which 
precedes  or  follows  the  accompanying  sound  of  the  voice, 
is  checked  by  the  consonant  obstruction,  while  in  pronounc- 
ing the  other  it  is  the  voice  itself  which  is  checked.  It 
would  be  better,  therefore,  to  denote  this  difference  by  the 
words  breath-check  and  voice-check. 

§  III.   Definition  of  Vowels  and  Consonants. 

1.  The  articulate  sounds  of  speech  are  divided  into  two 
classes  according  as  they  are  produced  by  the  voice  being 
modified  during  its  utterance,  or  obstructed  or  intercepted  at 
its  beginning  or  end;  the  former  being  the  voioels^  and  the 
latter  being  the  consonants. 

2.  The  consonants  are  often  defined  as  if  each  had  a  sound 


64  A   NEW   SYSTEM    OF 

of  its  own  indopendeut  of  any  accompanying  vowel ;  a  defini- 
tion wliicli  inevitably  leads  to  confusion,  and  prevents  the 
possibility  of  any  clear  distinction  between  vowels  and  con- 
sonants. It  would  seem  to  be  more  correct  to  recognize 
the  fact  that  such  sounds  are  not  articulate  sounds  of  speech 
unless  accompanied  by  a  vowel-sound,  as  the  very  name 
"consonant"  implies.  Even  where  one  consonant  modifi- 
cation'immediately  follows  another,  they  both  form  only  a 
modification  of  a  preceding  or  following  vowel-sound,  when 
considered  as  parts  of  articulate  speech.  This  may  be  il- 
lustrated by  the  sound  of  y  in  fair^  which  may  be  produced 
in  an  imperfect  manner  and  even  made  continuous  for  a  time 
without  any  vowel-sound  ;  but  it  constitutes  by  itself  only  a 
kind  of  noise,  and  not  an  articulate  sound  of  speech.  Neither 
is  the  f  in  self  anything  more  than  an  inarticulate  noise, 
unless  considered,  together  with  the  I,  as  accompanied  by, 
or  a  modification  of,  the  preceding  vowel-sound. 

3.  In  this  analysis,  therefore,  the  consonants  will  be 
treated,  not  as  separate  sounds,  but  rather  as  modifications 
of  a  vowel-sound  either  at  its  beginning  or  at  its  end. 

§  IV.    Vowel-Sounds. 

1.  The  various  vowel  modifications  are  produced  either 
by  the  tongue  being  more  or  less  liaised  towards  the  roof  of 
the  mouth  or  the  palate,  or  by  the  lijps  being  more  or  less 
closed  or  rounded  together.  The  vowels  may,  therefore,  be 
divided  into  three   classes,  viz.,  lingual  vowels,  ov  Wiose,  in 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  65 

which  the  vowel  modification  is  caused  by  the  raising  of  the 
tongue;  open  vowels,  or  those  pronounced  while  the  tongue  is 
at  rest  and  the  lips  open;  and  labial  vowels,  or  those  in  which 
the  vowel  modification  is  caused  by  the  closing  or  rounding 
of  the  lips. 

2.  There  are  also  certain  differences  .in  the  vowel-sounds 
dependent  upon  the  varying  accent  or  stress  of  the  voice. 
The  accented  vowels  have  a  tendency  to  terminate  with  more 
or  less  distinctness  in  one  of  the  following  vowel-sounds,  viz. : 

(liogual)    b       (e  anaccented  as  in  enough,  aid,  many.) 

(open)        u      («  unaccented  as  in  upon,  ideo,  other,  fair,  fear.) 

(labial)      66      (oo  unaccented  as  in  how?,  flow,  fhtgality.) 

Each  of  the  long  vowel-sounds  hereafter  described  may  be 
divided  into  two  portions,  the  initial  and  the  terminal,  the 
former  being  nearly  the  same  as  the  corresponding  accented 
short  vowel,  and  the  latter  being  one  of  the  three  vowel- 
sounds  above  mentioned.  For  instance,  the  sound  of  a  in 
age  begins  like  the  sound  of  e  in  edofe,  but  terminates  in  a 
slight  sound  of  e  (like  i  in  aid  or  y  in  pa?^)  ;  the  vowel-sound 
contained  in  the  ere  of  there,  or  the  air  in  fair,  beghis  like 
the  sound  of  a  in  and  or  man,  and  terminates  in  the  sound  u 
(like  u  in  wpon)  ;  the  sound  of  o  in  ode  begins  like  o  in 
whole,^  but  terminates  in  the  sound  66  (shotf?). 

»  In  this  word  and  a  few  others,  such  as  home,  hope,  ttone,  etc.,  the  o  '"is,  by  manj, 
if  not  by  most  speakers  in  this  country,  somewhat  shortened."  (See  Worcester's  Dic- 
tionaiy,  p.  xiv.)  Prof.  Whitney  calls  this  shortened  sound  of  o  "  the  true  short  o,"  and 
states  that  in  his  practice  "it  is  nearly  or  quite  restricted  to  none,  whole,  home,  ttone, 
smoke,  folks,  coat,  cloak,  toad,  throat  ."—Oriental  and  Linguistic  Studies,  Second  Series, 
p.  216.  It  seems  to  be  the  only  vowel  in  our  language  which  can  be  considered  as 
bearing  the  same  relation  to  the  long  o  (as  in  goat,  note,  etc.)  which  I  bears  to  e,  or  $ 
to  a. 

5 


66  A   NEW   SYSTEM    OF 

So  also  the  sounds  of  e  in  fee,  me,  feed,  heat,  eke,  scene, 
and  of  d  in  far,  bar,  calm,  farm,  and  of  uo  in  who, 
ooze,  food,  begin  with  an  accented  sound,  but  terminate 
respectively  in  a  slight  unaccented  sound  of  e,  u,  or  66.  The 
long  vowels,  in  other  words,  receive  a  sort  of  accent  and  ca- 
dence, or  rising  and  falling  inflection  of  the  voice.  By  the 
term  long  vowels  I  mean  the  long  accented  vowels,  which 
should  be  distinojuished  from  the  similar  vowels  occurring  in 
unaccented  syllables,  as  for  instance  e  in  enough,  a  in  vacate, 
0  in  meadow,  etc.  The  latter,  though  sometimes  called  long 
vowels,  are  really  short  vowels,  unless  the  voice  is  allowed 
to  rest  upon  them  with  what  is  sometimes  called  the  second- 
ary accent. 

3.  In  vowels  pronounced  abruptly^  as  when  closely  fol- 
lowed by  a  consonant  modification  or  by  a  different  vowel 
sound,  and  in  vowels  which  are  not  accented  at  all,  this 
double  inflection  does  not  occur,  and  there  is  a  marked  dif- 
ference in  their  sound  from  that  of  the  corresponding  long 
vowels. 

4.  We  may,  therefore,  after  arranging  the  vowels  accord- 
ing to  the. organs  with  which  they  are  pronounced,  consider 
each  of  them  as  having  also  three  modes  of  utterance,  viz.  : 
1 — ahrujpt,  when  the  cadence  which  would  naturally  follow 
the  accent  is  cut  off  by  an  abrupt  pronunciation  ;  2  —  grave 
(or  unaccented)  when  it  receives  no  accent  or  stress  of  the 
voice;  3 — long  when  it  receives  both  the  stress  and  the  ca- 
dence of  the  voice,  or  the  risino^  and  falling:  accent. 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  67 

5.  I  use  the  word  grave  for  the  unaccented  vowels  as  a 
convenient  one  for  the  purj^ose,  meaning  by  it  the  absence 
of  accent ^  or  the  falling  accent  generally  denoted  by  the  grave 
accent-mark  over  the  letter.  These  vowels  receivinoj  a  falling 
accent  (or  "vanishing"  sound,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,) 
cannot  well  be  pronounced  except  in  connection  with  some 
other  accented  sound ;  but  they  are  otherwise  the  same  as 
the  abrupt  vowels.  In  pronouncing  each  vowel  with  the 
abrupt  utterance  followed  by  a  grave  sound  of  the  same 
vowel,  it  will  be  found  that  they  proceed  in  a  natural  scale 
from  the  most  lingual  to  the  most  labial.  Each  long  vowel 
begins  with  a  sound  like  that  of  the  corresponding  abnipt 
vowel,  but  with  its  peculiar  lingual^  open^  or  labial  charac- 
teristic more  strongly  marked,  and  ends  with  a  more  or  less 
distinct  sound  of  one  of  the  three  terminal  or  "  vanishing  " 
vowels  e,  u,  or  66  ;  and  always  with  that  one  which  is  nearest 
to  it  in  the  natural  scale. 

6.  Although  the  abrupt,  and  grave  vowels,  when  considered 
together,  can  be  properly  designated  as  the  short  vowels, 
since  an  abrupt  or  an  unaccented  pronunciation  naturally 
produces  a  shorter  sound,  the  difference  between  these  and 
the  long  vowels  should  not  be  considered  as  consisting  merely 
in  a  difference  of  length  in  the  utterance.  The  mere  pro- 
longation of  the  i  in  til,  or  of  the  6  in  ell,  for  instance, 
will  not  produce  the  corresponding  long  vowels  e  as  in  eeZ, 
or  a  as  in  ale.  Ellis,  in  his  "Alphabet  of  Nature,"  Part  I, 
Chap.  V,  Sect.  II,  states  that  the  mode  in  which  the  "short 


68  A   NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

vowels"  differ  from  the  "  long  vowels  "  is  "  merely  in  the  time 
of  utterance."  I  have  been  led,  after  a  very  careful  study 
of  the  subject,  to  believe  that  the  difference  consists  rather 
in  a  variation  of  accent,  the  long  vowels  requiring,  as  al- 
ready stated,  a  certain  inflection  of  the  voice  which  causes 
the  vowel  to  terminate  with  a  different  sound  from  that  with 
which  it  commences. 

Ellis  argues  that  it  cannot  be  a  difference  of  accent  since 
there  are  some  words  "  in  which  long  sounds  occur  in  un- 
accented syllables,"  as  in  the  words  rosetree  magnate,  etc. 
But  in  these  words  if  the  voice  rests  on  the  second  syllable 
an  opportunity  is  given  for  the  inflection  to  which  I  refer, 
just  as  if  the  second  syllable  was  a  separate  word.  If  on 
the  other  hand  the  voice  does  not  rest  on  the  second  sylla- 
ble at  all,  the  whole  accent  being  thrown  upon  the  first 
syllable,  then  the  vowel  sound  is  in  reality  a  short  vowel 
(like  the  i  in  just^fy  or  the  ai/  in  Monday,  both  of  which  Ellis 
calls  short  vowels).  It  is  true,  however,  that  it  is  not  the 
fact  t»f  being  in  an  accented  syllable  which  makes  a  vowel 
long,  for  the  abrupt  vowels  (called  by  Ellis  the  stopped 
vowels)  are  accented.  But  in  these  the  natural  cadence  of 
the  accent  which  exists  in  the  long  vowels  is  cut  off,  as  it 
were,  by  the  succeeding  consonant  modification,  or  by  a 
change  into  a  different  vowel. 

The  following  is  a  brief  statement  of  the  manner  of  forma- 
tion of  each  vo\vel-8t>und  according  to  the  principles  above 
stated. 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND. 


69 


LINGUAL   VOWELS. 

Back  part  of  the  tongue  raised,  the  sides  of  the  tongue 
being  pressed  against  the  teeth,  so  that  the  voice  has  only 
a  narrow  passage  between  the  tongue  and  the  roof  of  the 
mouth ;  termiual  sound  e  : 

Abrupt,      i      as  in  til,  pin. 

Grave,       e      as  in  man^,  enough. 

Long,        e      as  in  eel,  see,  he,  feat,  chief,  people. 

Tongue  partly  raised ;  terminal  sound  e  : 

Abrupt,      6      as  in  end,  ell,  ever. 

Grave,        h,      as  in  Monday,  about,  essay,  extend. 

Long,         a      as  in  day,  aid,  ale,  break,  obey. 

Tongue  partly  raised  ;  terminal  sound  u  : 

Abrupt,      a      as  in  at,  mat,  fan. 
Grave,        a      as  in  arrange,  assail. 
Long,        ail     as  in  there,  fair,  prayer,  aiv. 


OPEN   VOWELS. 

Tongue  flat  or  at  rest  and  the  lips  open ;  terminal  sound  h  : 


guttural      as  in  wp,  swn,  son,  wnder. 
more  open  as  in  guy,  eye,  sound,  how. 
guttural      as  in  other,  fat'r,  fear,  asc€rtain. 
(_  more  open  as  in  idea,  comma,  algebra,  upon, 
ur^   guttural,      as  in  err,  urge,  certain, 
a     more  open,  as  in  calm,  far,  father,  alms,  arms. 

»In  this  sound,  sometimes  called  the  urvocal  sound,  the  tongue  is  somewhat  re- 
tracted, as  if  about  to  pronounce  the  consonant  r  (as  in  fui'ring),  producing  a  deeper 
or  more  guttural  pronunciation  or  the  vowel. 


Abrupt,  n 
Grave,  u 
Long, 


70  A  NEW  SYSTEM   OF 

LABIAL   VOWELS. 

Lips  partjy  closed ;  terminal  sound  u  : 

Abrupt,      6      as  in  on,  hot,  pond. 

Grave,        6      as  in  oxalic,  forever,  awturanal. 

Long,    k{6vk)    as  in  for,  saw,  war,  fall,  autumn. 

Lips    partly   closed    and    somewhat   rounded ;    terminal 

sound  66 : 

Abrupt,     6      as  in  home,  whole,  hope,  stone.  * 

Grave,       6      as  in  obey,  meadow. 

Long,         6      as  in  go,  owe,  road,  show,  note. 

Lips   nearly  closed   and   somewhat  protruded;   terminal 

sound  66 : 

Abrupt,    66      as  in  foot,  put,  p«ll. 
Grave,      66      as  in  how,  unto,  show. 
Long,       55      as  in  food,  who,  ooze. 

§  V.    Compound  Vowels. 
There  are  certain  combinations  of  the  vowels  described  in 
the  preceding  section,  which  are  pronounced  as  if  forming 
but  one  syllable,  and  may  be  called  Compound  Vowels. 

COMPOUND  VOWELS. 

Final  6  Final  66  Final  56 

i  (ue)  oh                                 u66  u  (y65,  hod") 

eye  oil                               owl  few 

fly  boy                              how  cube 

ftne  toil                             found  assume 

*  See  above,  §  IV,  note  2. 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  71 


Final  u 

eii 

au 

iu 

oil 

66u 

ear 

player 

ire 

more 

poor 

fear 

weigher 

fire 

door 

your 

mere 

slayer 

wire 

oar 

boor 

§  VI.  Obscure  Vowel  Sounds, 
In  unaccented  syllables  the  vowel-sound  is  often  slight 
and  obscure,  as  iu  legacy,  political,  philosophy,  volatile, 
colony.  These  obscure  vowels  may  generally  be  omitted  in 
short-hand  writing.  In  any  case  where  it  is  desirable  to 
represent  such  a  sound  the  short-hand  character  for  the  open 
vowel  u  may  be  used. 

In  the  last  syllable  of  such  words  as  evil,  able,  reckon, 
wooden,  often,  oven,  etc.,  the  voice  passes  directly  from 
one  consonant  modification  to  another  without  any  distinct 
intermediate  vowel ;  the  final  consonant  modification  being  of 
such  A  nature,  however,  as  to  admit  vocal  sound  suflicient  to 
form  a  separate  syllable  without  the  aid  of  any  final  vowel- 
sound.  In  such  words  as  robbed,  realm,  helve,  adze,  the 
voice  passes  in  like  manner  from  one  consonant  modifica- 
tion to  another,  and  the  final  consonant  modification  admits 
a  slight  sound  of  the  voice,  but  not  suflicient  to  form  a 
separate  syllable. 

In  all  such  words  the  slight  vocal  sound  referred  to,  even 
if  it  seems  to  be  a  vowel-sound,  does  not  need  to  be 
represented  in  writing,  as  the  representation  of  the  two 
successive  consonants  will   suflficiently  indicate   the   sound. 


72  A  NEW   SYSTEM  OP 

§  VII.    Consonant  Sounds. 

The  consonants  are  those  modifications  of  the  voice  by 
which  it  is  obstimcted  or  intercepted  at  the  beginning  or  end' 
of  its  utterance,  and  are  produced  by  the  organs  of  speech 
being  more  or  less  closed  together.  They  are  divided  here 
into  three  classes,  viz. :  labial^  when  the  obstruction  is  caused 
by  one  or  both  of  the  lips ;  lingual,  when  it  is  caused  by  the 
tongue ;  palatal,  when  it  is  caused  by  the  back  part  of  the 
tongue  and  the  palate. 

Some  of  the  consonants  resemble  each  other  in  the 
position  which  the  organs  of  speech  assume  for  their  pro- 
nunciation, but  have  a  certain  difference  of  sound  dependent 
upon  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  slight  unvocalized  breath- 
ing between  the  consonant  and  its  accompanying  vowel. 
Where  this  breathing  is  present  the  consonant  forms  an 
obstruction  to  the  breath;  where  it  is  not  present  the  ob- 
struction acts  directly  upon  the  voice.  This  difference  I  shall 
indicate  by  using  the  words  breath-check  and  voice-check. 
(See  above  Ch.  1,  §  II.) 

Another  difference  is  produced  by  causing  the  voice  to 
sound  or  vibrate  through  the  nasal  passages,  rather  than 
through  the  mouth.  This  may  be  denoted  by  the  word 
nasal. 

LABIAL   CONSOXANTS. 

Both  lips  closed  together  : 
Breath-check,      p      as  in  purr,  pin,  up,  apt,  upper,  park. 
Voice-check,        b      as  in  6urr,  bin,  rob,  rofc&ed,  ro?>6er,  6ark. 
Nasal,  m     as  in  ?nurmur,  so»ne,  natiied,  hflntmer,  mark. 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  73 

Both  lips  nearly  closed  together  and  slightly  more  com- 
pressed than  when  about  to  pronounce  the  vowel  oo  : 

w     as  in  were,  went,  witch,  away,  war,  woo. 

Lower  lip  closed  against  the  edge  of  the  upper  teeth,  but 
allowing  a  slight  passage  of  the  breath  or  voice  : 

Breath-check,       f      as  in  far,  \f,  for,  fine,  ph&se. 
Voice-check,        v      as  in  vernal,  of,  ouer,  cane,  past. 

LINGUAL   CONSONANTS. 

Tongue  closed  against  the  mside  of  the  upper  teeth,  or 
against  the  gums  of  the  upper  teeth  : 

Breath-check,      t      as  in  turu,  it,  to,  utter,  waif. 
Voice-check,        d     as  in  dirlc,  add,  do,  adder,  wade. 
Nasal,  n      as  in  nerve,  &n,  no,  inwer,  wane. 

Tongue  raised  towards  the  roof  of  the  mouth  somewhat 
more  than  when  about  to  pronounce  the  vowel  e : 

y      as  in  yearn,  you,  yard,  ye,  beyond. 

Tongue  closed  against  the  edge  of  the  upper  teeth,  but 
allowing  a  slight  passage  of  the  breath  or  voice  : 

Breath-check,      tli      as  in  {Aird,  thin,  earth,  brea^A. 
Voice-check,       dh*     as  in  other,  then,  thine,  breathe. 

Tongue  closed  as  in  the  pronunciation  of  t^  but  allowing 
the  breath  or  the  voice  to  be  forced  through  between  the  tip 


*  This  digraph  is  adopted  as  being  the  method  generally  used  to  distinguish  this 
sound  trom  that  of  th  in  thin. 


74  A  NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

or  upper  front  part  of  the  tongue  and  the  hard  palate  (or 
the  gums  of  the  upper  teeth)  producing  a  hissing  or  sibilant 
sound  : 

Breath-check,      s      as  in  racer,  certain,  soon,  ice,  hiss,  bits. 
Voice-check,       z      as  in  ra^or,  2;eal,  ooze,  eyes,  his,  adze. 

Tip  of  the  tongue  closed  against  the  upper  teeth,  or  upper 
part  of  the  mouth,  the  sides  of  the  tongue  being  left  free  : 

1      as  in  {earn,  coZor,  ill,  lose,  pZay,  bZue. 

Tip  of  the  tongue  reversed,  or  retracted,  and  raised  to- 
wards the  roof  of  the  mouth,  the  passage  by  it  of  the  breath 
or  voice  producing  more  or  less  of  a  vibrating  or  trilling 

sound : 

r      as  in  error,  ray,  ring,  rustle,  tray,  d?'ay,  fray. 

PALATAL   CONSONANTS. 

Back  part  of  the  tongue  closed  against  the  roof  of  the 
mouth  or  soft  palate  : 

Breath-check,      k      as  in  kernel,  oak,  cup,  see^,  acre. 
Voice-check,       g      as  in  gird,  ague,  gun,  league,  auger. 
Nasal,  ng'     as  in  sing^er,  haw^r,  rin^f,  longr. 

Breath  striking  upon,  or  vibrating  against,  the  soft  palate, 
sides  of  the  throat,  or  back  part  of  the  mouth : 

h     as  in  her,  hand,  who,  /taste,  hard. 

[The  above  arrangement  of  the  consonants  corresponds  substantially  with  that  of 
Bishop  Wilkins  (See  Part  I,  p.  40).  I  prefer,  however,  to  consider  w  (as  in  we,  woo, 
away),  y  (as  in  ye,  you,  bej/ond)  and  h  as  consonants;  and  sli  (as  in  sAeer)  and  zh  (as  in 
a«ure)  as  compound  sounds.] 

•  The  ng  is  italicized  to  distinguish  this  sound  from  that  of  ng  in  anfirer,  hngcr.  etc. 
The  sound  has  really  no  connection  with  that  of  n,  except  that  it  is  the  nasal  palatal  as 
n  is  the  nasal  lingual. 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND. 


75 


§  VIII.    Compound  Consonants. 
There  are  certain  combinations  of  consonant  modifications 
which  may  be  pronounced  with  one  utterance  of  the  voice, 
so  as  to  seem  like  single  consonant-sounds.     These  may  be 
called  compound  consonants. 


w 

AND  Y  COMPOUNDS. 

wh 

yh^ 

cb(«(/A) 

Kdy)       s 

toAen 

Aew 

cAew 

Jew            i 

awAile 

Auman 

wafcA 

edge          < 

kw 

gw 

sw 

queen 

gu@LW& 

sweet 

sh{syh) 

zy 

shoe 

asure 

ocean 

pleasure 

baoguet  lanpruage         assuage 


NASAL  COMPOUNDS. 

mp 

mb 

nt 

nd 

ng\ 

ngg 

empire 

amfter 

enter 

nndev 

anchor 

anger 

stamp 

Thomb 

s.nt 

and 

ink 

linger 

pl 

play 


FINAL  L  COMPOUNDS. 

bl  fl  kl  gl 

blow  flow  clay  glow 


FINAL  K  COMPOUNDS. 

pr  br  fr  tr  dr  kr  gr 

pi-ay  bray  fray  tray  dray  crow  grow 


'  The  wh  and  yh  sounds  are  here  considered  as  combinations  in  the  same  utterance 
of  the  consonant  sounds  of  w  and  y  with  the  aspirate  h,  rather  than  breath-clieck  con- 
sonants corresponding  to  to  and  y  as  p  corresponds  to  b,  for  the  following  reason :  In 
the  pronunciation  of  these  sounds,  wh  and  yh.  the  breath  is  not  so  much  checked  as  to 
prevent  a  distinct  aspirate  or  h  sound;  while  in  those  consonants, like p,  t,  etc.,  which  I 
have  denoted  by  the  name  breath-check,  the  complete  or  almost  complete,  closure  of  the 
organs  of  speech  prevents  any  distinct  pronunciation  of  the  aspirate  h,  the  breath 
being  heard  only  in  an  explosive  or  forced  utterance.  The  difference  between  the 
sound  of  w  in  kw  and  gw  corresponds  perhaps  moi'e  nearly  with  that  between  the 
breath-check  and  voice-check  consonants. 


76  A  NEW   SYSTEM  OF 

§  IX.     Explanation  of  the  compound  consonants  ch,  j,  sh, 
zy^  ng)s.  and  ngg. 

ch  (tyh) .  The  sound  of  ch  (tt/h)  (as  in  chew,  cheer,  watch, 
etc.,)  is  considered  here  as  being  a  combination  of  t  and  yli, 
the  tongue  being  first  placed  in  position  to  pronounce  t,  and 
then  the  tip  lowered  sufficiently  to  pronounce  yh  (as  in  hew)  ; 
the  breath,  which  had  been  checked  by  the  t,  causing  a 
slightly  explosive  sound. 

j  (dy).  The  sound  j  (dy)  (as  in  Jew,  Jeer,  edge,  etc.,) 
is  in  a  similar  manner  a  combination  of  d  and  y,  the  voice 
being  checked  instead  of  the  breath. 

sh  (syh).  The  sound  of  sh  (syh)  (as  in  shoe,  ash,  sure) 
is  a  combination  of  s  and  yh,  the  tongue  being  in  position  to 
pronounce  s,  but  with  the  tip  or  front  part  lowered  suffi- 
ciently to  pronounce  yh  (as  in  7iew)  ;  the  pronunciation  of 
both  together  modifying  to  a  certain  extent  the  sibilant 
sound  and  rendering  it  more  aspirate. 

zy.  The  sound  zy  (as  in  a^rure)  is  a  combination  of  z 
and  y,  the  voice  being  checked  instead  of  the  breath. 

ngk,  ngg.  The  sounds,  ngk  (as  in  hik)  and  ngg  (as  in 
anger)  are  combinations  of  ng  (as  in  singer)  with  k  and  with 
g.  The  nasal  palatal  ng  is  followed  by  a  closing  of  the  nasal 
passages,  thus  checking  the  nasal  sound,  and  producing  the 
final  k,  or  g,  according  as  the  ng  is  followed  by  the  breathing 
or  by  a  continued  vocal  sound. 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  77 

§  X.     Example  of  Phonetic  Spelling, 

To  illustrate  the  phonetic  method  of  writing  I  have  taken 
a  few  sentences  from  the  very  valuable  and  interesting  treatise 
of  Prof.  Whitney  (Oriental  and  Linguistic  Studies,  Second 
Series,  p.  202),  and  have  represented  them  according  to  the 
spelling  of  the  foregoing  analysis.  The  passage  selected 
answers  a  double  purpose,  furnishing  the  subject  for  the  ex- 
ample, and  also  stating  in  a  clear  and  concise  manner  a  truth 
of  great  importance  in  the  study  of  phonetics. 

The  unaccented  sounds  of  short  a,  as  in  attempt,  utter- 
ance, and  short  o,  as  in  forever,  occur,  are  distinguished  from 
the  corresponding  accented  sounds  b}'  using  the  unmarked 
letters  a  and  o.  The  unaccented  sound  of  short  e,  as  in  ex- 
istence, engage,  is  represented  by  a.  The  two  unaccented 
open  vowels,  which  are  both  represented  by  ii  in  the  analy- 
sis, are  here  distinguished  by  using  d  for  the  more  open 
sound  (as  a  in  idea,  artistic),  and  u  for  the  guttural  sound 
(as  e  in  other,  a  in  fear,  or  i  in  fair).  The  vowels  in  the 
words  a,  an^  to^  (hSf  6e,  and  o/",  are  considered  as  unaccented 
sounds. 

"  It.  iz  a  fakt  w61  non  too  dhh  stootlants  ov  lawf/ffwaj  dhat  no  Uvhig  tun// 
iz  spokti  in  an  ilntmii&  akktM'daiit  inriniiur  hi  illie  hoi  hMb  ov  dlioz  too 
hooni  it  iz  natev.  DitturAiisez  ov  uttiirans  (Aloju/  widh  diflu^all^ez  ov 
frazeoloje  and  s&j;nefeka>liun)  .sfinitiinz  riz  too  siich  u  dejri'e  az  too  pro- 
diis  str6n.^/le  dctind  dialakts,  dlie  spCkurz  ov  which  k'ui  hiirdle,  if  at  al, 
undurstsmd  wun  iinudhur.  Dhe  airzi>taii.s  ov  .such  '-dialakts,"  ah')»27sid 
dlie  apprdovd  .«pich  ov  dhe  kidlevatad,  iz  az  ji-iieral  az  dhJi  a;;zistfliis  ov  i 
kultovatid  spech.  But  evn  in  <die  uttiirans  nv  «lhe  lattur  «llie  sani  deskor- 
dan.'^ez  okknr;  on  h  sniallur  skal,  eiiili-d.  yet  niiirkt  eiiuf  too  nllfioo  dh6 
vareus  lokalete  ov  diiluraiit  wi-l-edfikatild  spekurz  too  he  dett-ktiVI  l)i  wun 
1j66  liaz  dhe  rfkwezct  kwiki.as  ov  fur,  v.iu\  a  suft'i^liantle  wid  akspei&ilns. 

.  .  .  .  Evn  C'dukAiad  uzej  haz  nrvur  l)in  mad  pie^isle  akk<'»rdant, 
duoon  too  dhe  la-it  partikuhir;  Tnui  if  it  wnr  wTuis  lii  a  iniraki  mad  so,  it 
kofid  not  be  kept  so;  dhfe  hips  ov  ^  .suililn  tiin  wood  sho  dhii  ohl  stat  ov 
thingz  brat  bak  4gen.'* 


78 


A  NEW   SYSTEM  OF 


Hi 

cq 


«   S 


2  S 


'5  ^   o< 


■O     N    ^ 


S5  =  g 


'«   §  £      IS 


\    s 


\ 


to 


5  -  «  £ 
a  ^  o  * 

o>  „    f    m 

rS  «  a,  g 

I  g-i  ? 

g  * '^  fc. 

„  be  «  R 
2  B  2  ^ 


.5  H 


V 


«  J5    5 


J>  ■a 


I       ^ 


:e8     £ 


I 


<♦*  CO  h 


e   y 


I  *  ^ 


^^ 


/ 


«    -3 


c  ^ 


5  ^ 


?i   -   ^ 
o   ^   u  ^ 

Z  2  S  2 


•  ♦»  .^  ■^ 

2  I  !=  S 

s  i  £•  o 

«  2  ** 

^  ^  _j, 

''  ii  a  > 

c;  p  o 


"S. 


5  5  ~ 


^-1  S  2 


t  o      a 


s        "   a       —   - 
e  .2  '^  s  «>  a*  e 

§S  "  «  I  I  « 


S  S 


PHONETIC   SHORT- HAND. 


79 


l! 


^  "^   o 

»-|   a    ». 


I        - 


W 
O 

< 

1— I 

o 

!?; 
o 

CO 

O 
Q 


n 


s 


\ 


^  J 


\ 


o  i 


s  g 


"  s 


^    C  -o 


o.  r    a, 


^i=^| 


\ 


\ 


to  d 


su  »> 


«   s 


13   ~j    ^s 


•5   =s 


8   .S 


KJ 


a,   „ 


2  b 

•=1 

IS 

—  2 

'53    o 


5| 


''i      a 


a.  3 


^  S 

i:   o 

-1^ 
en 

u 

4) 

5-. 

3 
S3 

in  .-a 

s  ^ 

.45 

» 

S^ 

•^    i 

t4 

o     . 

^ 

=3 

3l 

V 

:P  — 

^  5 

Ai 


80 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND. 


TABLE  III.     COMPOUND  VOWEL  CHARACTERS. 


T 

y\ 

-/ 

V 

i(ue) 

ok 

u66 

\i  (yo6  or  So6) 

jce 

oil 

ow\ 

Mse 

fly 

toy 

sound 

cube 

high 

boa 

plow 

few 

V 


eu 

au 

lU 

ou 

oou 

ear 

player 

ire 

oar 

poor 

mere 

weigher 

fire 

door 

moor 

tier 

gayer 

higher 

more 

boor 

TABLE 

IV. 

COMPOUND 

CONSONANT  CHAE 

ACTERS 

/7 


10  and  y  Compounds. 


A 

V 

■^ 

^^r 

wh 

yh 

ch(tyh) 

i(dy) 

why 

^ew 

cheer 

jeer 

-JT 

-If 

^ 

,^^ 

-8- 

Bh(syh) 

zy 

kw 

gw 

sw 

sheer 

aaure 

queen 

language 

sweet 

Nasal  Compounds. 


/? 


(/ 


1/ 


r 


r 


mp 

mb 

nt 

nd 

n^k 

ngg 

stamp 

awifter 

ant 

and 

\nk 

anger 

pl 

play 


Final  I  Compounds. 

bl  fl  kl 

blow  ty  clay 


gl 

gloMV 


Final  r  Compounds. 

n— 

rx- 

U.              ^              "^L. 

U- 

J-. 

pr 

br 

fr             tr             dr 

kr 

gr 

^y 

6row 

free           try           dry 

cry 

firrow 

CHAPTEE  II. 

DIEECTIONS   FOR   THE   USE    OF   THE   CHARACTERS. 

§  I.  The  characters  differ  in  direction  or  form,  hut  not  in 
thickness. 

In  constructing  this  system  of  short-hand  I  have  wholly 
avoided  the  use  of  a  difference  in  thickness  or  heaviness  of 
stroke  as  a  means  of  denoting  a  difference  in  sound,  believing 
such  an  expedient  objectionable  for  two  reasons,  viz. ;  first, 
the  uncertainty  which  it  is  apt  to  impart  to  the  reading  of 
the  short-hand  manuscript ;  and  second,  the  interruption  it 
necessarily  occasions  in  writing,  thereby  preventing  the  ac- 
quirement of  an  easy  running  hand.  All  the  characters  are 
to  be  written  with  a  light  and  flowing  stroke,  so  as  to  give 
the  greatest  facility  to  the  movement  of  the  hand. 

§  II.  Joining  the  characters  to  form  words. 
In  this  system  all  the  characters  of  any  short-hand  word 
are  to  be  joined  together  so  as  to  form  one  continuous  stroke 
or  movement  of  the  pen,  —  the  second  character  beginning 
where  the  first  ends,  the  third  where  the  second  ends,  and 
so  on  without  lifting  the  pen  till  the  word  is  finished ; 
somewhat  as  the  word  vowel  is  written  in  long-hand  manu- 
script. No  detached  marks  are  used  either  for  vowels  or 
consonants ;  and  the  only  exception  to  the  continuity  of  the 
6 


82  A  NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

writing  for  all  words  (other  than  those  for  which  word-signs 
or  abbreviation-marks  are  used)  is,  that  when  two  vowel- 
characters  come  together  having  the  same  direction  they 
should  be  written  parallel  to  each  other  rather  than  joined. 
The  student,  before  attempting  to  write  words,  should 
practise  writing  the  characters  separately  in  order  to  become 
familiar  with  their  forms  and  to  accustom  the  hand  to  the 
movements  which  they  require. 

§  III.    Vowel  Characters. 

1.  The  vowel  charactei-s  are  straight  or  curved  strokes  fol- 
lowing in  the  order  of  their  direction  the  natural  scale  of  the 
vowel-sounds  ;  viz.,  downward  for  the  most  Ungual;  slanting 
downward  for  the  partly  lingual;  horizontal  from  left  to  right 
for  the  open  vowels;  slanting  upward  for  the  partly  labial; 
and  upward  for  the  most  labial. 

2.  No  distinction  need  be  made  in  short-hand  writing  be- 
tween the  vowels  which  have  an  unaccented  pronunciation 
and  the  corresponding  vowels  which  have  an  abrupt  pronun- 
ciation. Both  kinds  are  therefore  arranged  together  in  the 
Table  of  Vowel  Characters  under  the  name  of  short  Towels, 
and  are  represented  by  tlie  same  series  of  characters. 

3.  The  characters  for  the  long  vowels  differ"  only  in  length 
from  those  for  the  corresponding  short  vowels. 

4.  In  rapid  writing  the  downward  stroke  \  may  be  used 
for  a,  instead  of  the  downward  curve  v  ,  and  the  upward 
stroke    y    for  o  instead  of  the  upward  curve  ^ 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND. 


83 


5.  The  upward  stroke  /'  may  be  used  for  &  except 
for  such  final  sounds  as  or  in  for,  ar  in  war,  aw  in  saWy 
which  should  be  represented  by  the  curved  form    r 

6.  The  vowel-sound  u  in  fear,  fair,  there,  other,  is  very 
nearly  the  same  as  the  final  sound  in  idea,  and  these  sounds 
do  not  need  to  be  distino;uished  from  each  other  in  writiusf. 
The  corresponding  long  vowels  ur,  as  in  M?'gent,  earnest,  and 
a,  as  in  alms,  harm,  father,  also  resemble  each  other,  being 
both  open  vowels,  and  may  generally  be  represented  by  the 
same  character.  If  greater  accuracy  is  desired,  the  ur  vowel 
may  be  represented  by  adding  the  character  for  r,  thus  -x- 
in  the  same  manner  as  is  done  in  ordinary  writing  in  such 
words  as  urgent,  lurk,  fur. 

7.  The  characters  for  the  compound  vowds  are  formed  by 
joining  the  characters  for  the  vowels  which  compose  them ; 
the  angle  in  some  cases  being  rounded  into  a  curve  form  for 
convenience  of  writing. 

Any  other  combinations  of  vowels  may  be  represented  in 
a  similar  manner  by  combining  the  vowei-^characters  as  in 
the  following  examples  : 


u 

\y 

U^ 

eu 

eo 

So  or  10 

ar<a 

mediocrity 

onole 

heavier 

physiology 

diocese 

jtudtows 

geology 

violate 

11 

/ 

J^ 

i& 

6& 

uoou 

piety 

showy 

power 

society 

poetry 

shower 

variety 

stoical 

Aovxr 

84 


A   NEW   SYSTEM   OP 


8.  The  consonant  sound  of  r  final  or  before  a  consonant, 
as  in  fea?',  pou?',  aH,  court,  etc.,  need  not  be  represented. 
When  r  conies  between  two  vowel-sounds,  we  may  either 
omit  the  vowels  and  write  the  r,  or  we  may  omit  the  r  and 
write  the  vowels.  In  the  latter  case  if  the  vowel-characters 
have  the  same  direction  they  should  be  written  parallel  to 
each  other  rather  than  joined  together. 

9.  Any  termination  consisting  of  re  preceded  by  an 
unaccented  vowel  or  by  e,  as  in  salutary,  livery,  history, 
ivory,  veri/,  merry,  etc.,  may  be  represented  by  a  combina- 


tion of  the  two  characters     ^    and 


VIZ. 


and  the 


same  mark  made  larger  may  represent  are  as  in  va7'y,  dairy, 
etc. 

Other  terminations  in  I'e  preceded  by  one  or  more  vowels 
may  be  represented  as  follows  : 


K 


^ 


y> 


ure 

ore  or  ()r& 

iure 

aure  or  ar6 

ubourh 

hurry 

story 

fiery 

fairy 

SiOioery 

curry 

glory 

vriry 

airy 

showoy 

■worry 

qwarry 

miry 

carry 

bowery 

When  these  or  similar  combinations  of  sounds  occur  in 
the  middle  of  a  word,  as  in  stereotype,  interest,  hwrr/ed, 
flon'd,  fairylike,  prevaricate,  etc.,  the  same  forms  may  be 
used ;  or  the  character  for  r  may  be  used,  the  vowels  being 
omitted. 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  85 

§  IV.    Consonant  Oharacters. 

1.  The  student  should  learn  to  repeat  readily  the  con- 
sonant-sounds in  their  natural  order  as  arranged  in  Table  II. 
In  doing  this  he  should  not  use  the  alphabetical  "  names  "  of 
the  letters,  as  some  of  them  have  the  accompanying  vowel 
before,  and  some  after,  the  consonant ;  and  those  for  w^  y, 
r,  g^  and  h  are  entirely  different  in  sound  from  the  conso- 
nants themselves.  Just  enough  vowel-sound  should  be  used 
to  give  each  consonant  its  distinct  pronunciation,  and  to 
enable  them  all  to  be  easily  uttered  in  succession.  For  this 
purpose  the  open  vowel  ur  as  in  iur  is  the  most  convenient, 
and  may  be  used  after  each  consonant,  thus,  for  Ifxbials: — 
^ur,  6ur,  mur,  wur,  /ur,  vur;  for  Unguals: — <ur,  dur,  nur, 
yur,  ^Aur,  dhnVy^  sur,  2;ur,  Zur,  rur;  for  palatals: — A;ur,  ^ur 
n^ur,2  Aur. 

2.  The  consonant-sounds  having  thus  been  committed  to 
memory  in  a  natural  order,  the  consonant-characters  may  be 
easily  memorized.  The  characters  for  the  labials,  p,  m, 
w,  and  f,  have  a  resemblance  to  certain  portions  of  the  or- 
dinary manuscript  letters,  which  will  enable  the  student  to 
associate  in  his  mind  the  character  with  the  corresponding 
letter;  and  from  these  labial  characters  all  the  others,  except 
those  for  s,  z,  1,  and  r,   are  derived. 

3.  The  character  which  represents  the  sound  of  p,  for 

1  As  in  other.  "  As  in  singer. 


S6  A  NEW  SYSTEM   OF 

instance,  may  be  compared  to  the  last  portion  of  the  manu- 
script letter  p;  that  for  m  resembles  the  first  half  of  the 
capital  letter  31;  that  for  w,  the  middle  portion  of  the  letter 
w;  and  that  for  f,  the  upper  loop  of  the  letter y. 

K  y^  w  J? 

4.  The  characters  for  the  voice-check  consonants,  b  and 
V,  are  the  same  as  those  for  the  corresponding  breath-checJc 
consonants,  p  and  f,  only  they  are  made  larger. 

5.  The  characters  for  the  Unguals^  t,  d,  n,  y,  th,  and  dh, 
are  the  same  as  those  for  the  cori'espouding  labials,  only  they 
are  written  downward  instead  of  upward. 

^  w  /<  V  ^  ^ 

t  d  n  y  th  dh 

6.  The  characters  for  ih^  palatals ,  k,  g,  ng,  and  h,  are  the 
same  as  those  for  the  corresponding  Unguals  and  labials,  only 
they  are  written  backward  (beginning  at  the  top). 

c  C  -=::  < 

Ts.  g  ng  h 

7.  The  characters  for  s  and  z  are  circles,  that  for  z  being 
made  larger  than  that  for  s. 

8.  The  characters  for  1  and  r  are  horizontal  lines  preceded 
by  a  short  backward  stroke,  that  for  1  being  upward  and  that 
for  r  downward. 

O  O  T-  ,  . 

s  z  1  r 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  87 

§  V.    Compound  Consonant  Charadei's. 

1.  The  compound-consonants  are  represented  by  forms 
derived  from  the  characters  which  represent  the  component 
sounds. 

2.  The  character  for  ch  (tyA)  is  derived  from  the  down- 
ward  curve  which  represents  t  and  the  downward  angle  which 
represents  yA,  the  character  for  j  {dy)  being  the  same  only 
larger ;  that  for  sh  (syh)  is  derived  from  the  s  circle  and  the 
yh  angle ;  that  for  kw  is  the  w  character  written  in  a  curve 
form  to  represent  the  curve  of  the  k  character. 

3.  In  the  characters  for  mp  and  nt  the  m  and  n  angles 
are  rounded  to  represent  the  p  and  t  cm'ves. 

4.  The  characters  for  ng\i  and  ngg  have  a  downward 
stroke  for  the  ng  sound  with  an  upward  curve  stroke  which 
returns  to  the  line  of  writing  and  answers  to  represent  the 
curve  form  of  the  k  and  g  characters. 

5.  It  is  seldom  necessary  to  distinguish  between  the 
sounds  ng  as  in  siw^er  and  ngg  as  in  lin^er^  and  they  may 
generally  both  be  represented  by  the  character  for  ngg  ^ 

6.  In  the  characters  for  pi,  bl,  and  for  kl,  gl,  the  p  and 
b  curves  and  the  k  and  g  curves  are  turned  so  as  to  end  with 
the  1  character.  In  a  similar  manner  the  characters  for  the 
final  r  compounds  end  with  the  r  character.  The  characters 
for  fl  and  vl  consist  of  the  characters  for  f  and  v  written  so 
as  to  slant  backward  instead  of  forward  in  order  to  represent 
the  backward  stroke  of  the  1  character. 


88  A   NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

7.  The  characters  for  wh  and  yh  are  the  same  as  those 
for  w  and  y,  there  being,  usually,  no  need  of  distinguishing 
them  in  short-hand  writing.  If  greater  accuracy  should  be 
desired  the  wh  may  be  represented  by  a  combination  of  the 
w  and  h  characters,  and  the  yh  by  a  combination  of  the  y 
and  h  characters,  thus,  x  X 

§  VI.  Double  Consonant  Forms. 
When  two  or  more  consonant-sounds  occur  together  in 
a  word,  either  in  the  same  syllable  or  in  successive  syllables, 
without  any  intervening  vowel-sound  they  may  be  written 
together  in  a  more  or  less  abbreviated  form  as  represented 
in  Table  V  on  pages  90  and  91.  The  forms  for  the  compound 
consonants  already  given  in  Table  IV  are  omitted. 

§  VII.    Directions  for  the  use  of  the  characters  for  m,  n,  f 
Vy  thy  dhy  w,  y,  wh,  yh,  and  h. 

1.  The  first  or  upward  stroke  of  the  m  character  is 
intended  only  as  a  connecting  stroke,  in  order  to  bring  the 
character  above  the  line  of  writing  of  the  rest  of  the  word. 
When  this  character  begins  a  word,  or  is  only  preceded  by  a 
character  which  may  be  conveniently  written  above  the  line 
of  writing,  the  connecting  stroke  may  be  dispensed  with. 

2.  The  second  or  upward  stroke  of  the  n  character  is  also 
only  a  connecting  stroke  which  may  be  dispensed  with  when 
this  character  ends  a  word  or  is  only  followed  by  a  character 
which  may  be  written  below  the  line  of  writing. 

-4  ^  ^         ^^       v^        ^ 

mask         immerse  smoke  burn         attorney      turns 


PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND. 


89 


3.  When  the  slanting  characters,  m,  n,  f,  v,  th,  or  dh, 
are  either  of  them  preceded  or  followed  by  the  labial  vowel 
00  the  character  may  be  written  directly  upward  or  down- 
ward instead  of  slanting ;  and  in  this  case  the  vowel  itself 
may  often  be  omitted,  being  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  di- 
rection of  the  consonant-character. 

4.  As  the  consonants  w,  y,  wh,  and  yh  naturally  imply  a 
following  vowel-sound  we  may  use  the  consonant  character 
alone,  omitting  the  vowel-character,  or  we  may  use  a  com- 
bination of  both,  as  in  the  following  examples  : 

1  -N  •^s.  r-  'V  ^ 


we 

wa 

wau 

wur 

w5 

vpod 

weave 

tcake 

wear 

world 

tooe 

woo 

wheel 

xcait 

where 

whirl 

wove 

woo! 

^ 

'A 

u 

k. 

v/* 

^ 

ye 

ya 

yu 

yur  or  ya 

"yo 

yoo 

!/e 

yea 

saviowr 

yearn 

yoke 

view 

yield 

behavior 

yard 

hew 

5.  The  character  for  w  or  wh  when  it  is  followed  by  a 
character  which  slants  downward  to  the  left  may  be  written 
in  a  curved  manner  forming  a  small  hook  at  the  beginning 
of  the  succeeding  character. 

6.  The  character  for  the  aspirate  h  may  be  written  alone, 
the  vowel  following  being  omitted,  or  the  vowel  may  be 
written  and  the  aspirate  character  omitted.  If  both  are 
written  they  may  be  combined  in  the  following  manner : 


r 

he 
heed 


ha  har  or  ha       ho  or  h4 

hale  hurt,  harm      hot,  hall 


ho        hoo  or  hoo 
hole       hood,  hoot 


90 


A   NEW   SYSTEM   OF 


TABLE  V.     CONSONANT  CHARACTERS   JOINED  IN 
ONE  FORM. 


<r\ 


Initial  I 

</    ^     ^     . 


Ip  lb  Im         If  Iv 

help      bulb      Tealm      elf       helve 


■r>r-        '^^V" 


It  1(1  1th  Ich         Ij 

hilt      held      health     Glch    bulge 


'T-O 


^v 


Is 

Iz 

Jsh                   Ik 

Itr 

Idr 

else 

hells 

compulsion           silk 
Initial  m. 

ultra, 

children 

/6     /v       /^      A    A- 


^     /^      ^       /2. 


mt        md  mn         mz        ml        mpl       mbl         mpr         mbr 

empty   aimed    chimney    alms    hamlet    ample    amble   empress    embrace 


Initial  n. 

/ 

i 

V- 

/- 

•6 

-O 

um 

ns  or  nz 

nl 

nr 

BSt 

nzd 

enmity 

pence     pens 

enZarge 

enrage 

against 

bronzed 

4- 

5. 

sC 

Jl. 

0" 

<r 

ntr 

ndr 

nstr 

nkr 

ntl 

ndl 

entry 

hundred 

instruct            increase 

antZer 

handZe 

-- 

Ar 

^ 

nkw 

nch 

nj 

ingwest 

bencA 

eryoy 

PHONETIC  SHORT-HAND. 


91 


Initial  ng. 

c 

C 

# 

X 

^^^ 

^ 

^ 

ngt 

ngd 

njth 

nggr 

nggw 

ngrkl 

nggl 

distinct 

wronged 

length 

angry 

language 

ankle 

angle 

Final  I, 


tl 
rattle 


dl 
addle 


si 
sl&j 


spl 
spZit 


Car 

kspl 
ea;pZain 


kskl 
exclude 


thl 
athlete 


' 

Final  r. 

03^ 

<k^ 

Sl 

^ 

S_ 

-2_ 

^^ 

spr 

kspr 

str 

kstr 

ktr 

skr 

thr 

spread 

express 

siring 

extreme 

docfrirfe 

scream 

throne 

Final  t. 


pt 
apt 


ft 
oft 


St 


kt 
liked 


Final  d. 


bd 

robbed 


vd 
Txxoved 


zd 
raised 


ripr^cd 


CHAPTER    III. 

DIRECTIONS    FOE    WRITING. 

§  I.    The  line  of  writing. 

The  line  of  writing  is  the  horizontal  Hue  on  which  words 
are  written.  In  short-hand  writing,  if  ruled  paper  is  used, 
the  line  of  writing  should  be  an  imaginary  line  in  the  middle 
of  the  spacey  the  ruled  lines  themselves  being  used  only  to 
separate  the  written  lines  from  each  other ;  for  the  reason  that 
if  the  words  were  written  on  the  ruled  line  the  horizontal 
characters  might  not  be  sufficiently  distinct  from  it.  The 
student  should  first  practise  with  ruled  paper,  learning  to 
write  the  words  in  the  middle  of  the  space  between  the  ruled 
lines.  After  the  method  of  writing  has  become  familiar  it 
will  be  better  to  dispense  with  ruled  lines  altogether,  as  it  is 
an  advantage  not  to  be  dependent  upon  them. 

§  II.  Size  of  the  characters. 
The  characters  as  exhibited  in  the  tables,  though  somewhat 
larger  than  they  need  to  be  in  practical  use,  will  serve  to 
show  the  proper  form,  direction,  and"  relative  size  or  length. 
No  use  is  made  of  a  difference  in  thickness  or  heaviness  of 
stroke  as  a  means  of  denoting  a  difference  between  sounds. 
(See  Chapter  II,  §1.)  The  beginner  will  naturally  use 
at  first  a  larger  sized  writing  than  will  be  necessary  after 

(92) 


PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND.  93 

the  hand  has  become  more  accustomed  to  forming  the  cliar- 
acters.  The  best  measure  for  practical  use  is  about  an  eighth 
or  a  sixth  of  an  inch  in  length  for  the  larg^est  sized  charac- 
ters. 

Although  it  is  best  to  form  the  habit  of  making  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  small  and  large  characters,  there  are 
some  of  them,  as  those  for  f  and  v,  for  s  and  2,  and  for  Ih 
and  dli,  in  which,  as  experience  will  show,  this  distinction 
need  not  always  be  observed  in  rapid  writing.  The  same  is 
true  in  regard  to  the  distinction  between  the  8h<yrt  vowels 
and  the  corresponding  long  vowels ;  which*  is  denoted  by  a 
difference  in  the  length  of  the  character,  and  is  not  so  im- 
portant as  those  distinctions  which  are  denoted  by  a  dif- 
ference in  form  or  direction.  An  occasional  omission  to 
give  the  exact  size  or  length  to  the  character  will  not  occa- 
sion any  difficulty  in  the  reading,  since  the  rest  of  the  word 
or  the  accompanying  words  will  sufficiently  show  what  sound 
it  is  intended  to  represent. 

§  III.    Continuity  of  the  writing. 

As  already  stated,  Chap.  II,  §  II,  the  writing  of  each  word 
is  to  be  continuous ;  the  only  exceptions  being  the  word- 
signs  and  marks  for  abbreviation,  and  the  words  in  which  two 
vowel-characters  having  the  same  direction  are  written  paral- 
lel to  each  other. 

In  joining  the  characters  of  a  word  the  forms  may  often 
be  slightly  varied  for  convenience *of  writing ;  but  this  should 


94  A  NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

be  done  only  when  it  will  not  interfere  with  the  legibility  of 
the  manuscript. 

§  rV.    Words  to  be  written  according  to  the  sound. 

In  writing  a  word  in  phonetic  short-hand  no  regard  should 
be  paid  to  the  Ordinary  spelling,  and  those  sounds  only 
should  be  represented  which  are  heard  when  the  word  is 
pronounced.  All  silent  letters  are  to  be  omitted ;  for  in- 
stance, such  as  e  in  fine;  i  in  chief;  w  in  lovit,  wrong;  p  in 
attemj)t  ;kj  w^  d  and  e  in  knowledge;  p  and  I  in  psalm,  etc. 
The  student  must  also  learn  not  to  be  misled  by  the  unpho- 
netic  manner  in  which  the  letters  are  used  in  the  ordinary 
long-hand  writing;  as  for  instance  in  the  words  weigJiti/^ 
phase,  which,  written  phonetically,  would  be  wdte,  fdz. 

The  habit  of  spelling  in  the  ordinary  way  makes  it  some- 
what diflficult,  at  first,  to  learn  to  write  phonetically,  that  is, 
according  to  the  sound;  and  for  this  reason  it  will  be  well 
for  the  student  to  make  a  careful  study  of  the  analysis  of 
sounds  given  in  Chapter  I,  before  proceeding  to  practise  the 
short-hand  writing. 

§  V.  Sounds  that  may  he  omitted  in  writing. 
Ks>  rapidity  is  the  chief  object  of  short-hand,  many  sounds, 
particularly  vowel-souuds,  may  be  omitted  in  the  writing 
where  such  omission  does  not  prevent  the  written  word  from 
being  easily  read ;  the  other  sounds  in  the  same  word  or  the 
other  words  with  which  it  is  connected  making  it  sufficiently 
evident  what  word  is  intended  to  be  represented.     To  what 


PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND.  95 

extent  this  omission  may  be  carried  will  depend  upon  prac- 
tice and  also  upon  the  particular  object  of  the  writing.  As 
the  short-hand  writing  becomes  familiar  a  word  will  be  read, 
not  by  spelling  out  each  character,  but  by  its  general  form 
or  outline  ;  so  that  a  whole  sentence  may  often  be  read  at  a 
glance  even  though  considerably  abbreviated  by  the  omission 
of  many  of  the  sounds.  If  the  writing  is  intended  to  be 
laid  aside  and  not  to  be  read  till  after  an  interval  of  time, 
the  writing  should  be  more  full  and  accurate  than  when  it  is 
intended  for  immediate  use. 

Although  practice  is  the  best  teacher  in  regard  to  this  sort 
of  abbreviation  it  will  be  found  convenient  to  observe  the 
following  rules : 

1.  Unaccented  vowels  between  consonants  (in  the  same 
word)  may  generally  be  omitted.  Even  accented  vowels 
between  consonants  may  often  be  omitted,  especially  in  words 
of  more  than  two  syllables. 

2.  The  r  before  a  oonsonant,  as  in  art,  heart,  court,  etc., 
or  when  finals  as  in  war,  fear,  fair,  etc.,  need  not  be  repre- 
sented. 

3.  The  sound  of  r  between  two  vowel-sounds,  as  in 
se?nous,  arrange,  etc.,  may  generally  be  omitted  if  the  vowel- 
sounds  are  represented. 

4.  When  the  same  consonant  is  repeated  without  any 
intervening  sound  as  in  be^^er,  da^/^er,  mn^Y,  etc.,  only  9ne 
need  be  written. 


96  PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND. 

5.  The  aspirate  h  may  be  omitted  if  the  vowel  which  fol- 
lows it  is  represented  ;  except  iu  a  few  words  (particularly 
those  of  one  syllable)  where  the  aspirate  constitutes  the  only 
means  of  distinction  from  another  word,  as  in  Aarm,  arm; 
/ieart,  art ;  A  old,  old. 

6.  When  m,  n,  Z,  r,  begin  a  word,  the  vowel  following 
may  often  be  omitted  even  when  accented,  as  these  con- 
sonants, when  initial i  imply  a  following  vowel. 

7.  An  initial  vowel  need  not  be  represented  when  it  is 
followed  by  a  double  consonant-sound  which  necessarily  im- 
plies a  preceding  vowel-sound,  as  in  employ,  empire,  express, 
intend,  altitude,  etc. 


CHAPTEK    lY. 

WORD-SIGNS   AND   ABBREVIATIONS. 

§  I.  Definition  of  word-signs. 
Word-signs  are  special  signs  representing  certain  words, 
and  may  consist  either  of  contractions;  words  m  which  some 
of  the  characters  are  omitted  or  written  in  a  contracted  form  ; 
or  symbols  suggesting  by  their  forms  the  idea  of  the  word  ; 
or,  finally,  arbitrary  marks.  Those  of  the  first  kind  are  nat- 
urally suggested  by  experience,  and  their  use  may  be  indef- 
initely extended  by  the  writer  to  suit  his  own  convenience, 
provided  only  that  the  forms  be  such  as  will  not  interfere 
with  the  legibility  of  the  writing.  (See  pages  114,  115.) 
Symbols  may  be  used  for  a  few  common  words  denoting 
position  or  direction.  Examples  of  this  kind  will  be  found 
on  page  104.  Arbitrary  marks  can  be  more  easily  com- 
mitted to  memory  if  the  words  and  their  signs  are  arranged 
in  a  certain  corresponding  order.  Some  of  the  pronouns 
and  auxiliary  verbs  are  represented  by  such  marks. 

§  II.    Use  of  ivord-sig7is. 

For  those  who  wish  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  short-hand, 

not  for  the  most  rapid  kind  of  verbatim  reporting,  but  for 

the  ordinary  purposes  of  correspondence,  composition,  taking 

notes  of  lectures,  etc.,  it  is  best  not  to  burden  the  memory 


98  A   NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

with  too  many  rules  or  arbitrary  signs.  Tiie  advantage  to 
be  gained,  however,  by  the  use  of  a  few  word-signs  for 
the  most  common  words,  and  certain  methods  of  abbrevia- 
tion for  prefixes  and  terminations,  will  amply  repay  one  for 
the  little  exertion  necessary  to  commit  them  to  memory  ;  and 
these  can  be  learned  more  easily  at  first  than  after  acquiring 
a  habit  of  writing  out,  in  full,  words  which  might  as  well  be 
represented  by  brief  forms. 

§  III.    Difference  of  position. 

Many  words  and  phrases  may  be  represented  by  the  use  of 

word-signs,  the  meanings  of  which  vary  according  as  they 

are  written  above,  on,  or  belov)  the   line  of  writing.     For 

example,  the  characters  for  p,  t,  k,  and  a  curve  having  a 

direction   opposite   to   that  for  k  furnish  convenient  word- 

sisrns  as  indicated   in   the  following   table :   each  character 

having  a  diflerent  meaning  according  to  its  position  ;  that 

for  t,  for  instance,  meaning  at  least  when  written  above  the 

line,  at  any  rate  when  written  on  the  line,  and  at  all  events 

when  written  beloiu  the  line. 

(  at  least  (  possibly 

v-f   <  at  any  rate  "^   <  perhaps 

(  at  all  events  I  probably 

I  according  to  C  on  the  contrary 

C    \  on  account  of  D   <  nevertheless 


>l  in  consequence  of  I  notwithstanding 

^  IV.     Word-signs  for  Pronouns. 
1 .   The  personal  pronouns  are  represented  by  the  use  of 
the  dot  written  either  above,  on,  or  below  the  line  of  writing, 


UWYER 
OAILAS,  TEXA.S 

PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND.  99. 

according  as  the  pronoun  is  of  the  Jirsi,  second,  or  third 
person  ;  two  dots  being  used  for  the  plural  number. 


I  or  me       you        he,  him,  or  it       we  or  iis        ye       they  or  them 

2.    Other  pronouns  may  be  represented  by  small  angles 
written  above,  on,  or  below  the  line  of  writing. 

A  V 

A  V 

A  V 

who  or  whom       which       what       each       each  other      every  or  everybody 


>  < 

either  any  or  anyone  such  neither  none  another 

3.  The  possessive  case  may  be  indicated  by  a  curved  line 
under  the  word-sign,  and  the  reciprocals  self,  selves,  the 
termination  ever,  and  the  adjective  own  may,  either  of  them, 
be  indicated  by  a  curved  line  over  the  word-sign.  These 
curves  may  be  used  together  forming  a  circle  about  the 
word-sign  for  mi/  own,  their  own,  etc. 

EXAMPLES. 

viy  or  mine  your  or  yours  themselves  whatever 


100  A   NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

4.  Other  pronominal  words  may  be  represented  as  fol- 
lows : 

\        /^       cT     t/^         c^        cT^    <^      <^ 

a  an  the        this  these  those      there        then 

O-         ^  ^  ^  /  ^  ^ 

hoth       feio        many        some        the  same       part        ichole 

5.  Time,  place  or  manner  may  be  denoted  by  the  marks 
«j     o     or    /    {t,  p,  7n,)  written  under  either  of  the  above 

word-signs  or  abbreviations. 

EXAMPLES. 


>y 


at  at  in  at  at  at  part      at  the 

which       what        any       every  this         some  of  the      same 

time        place    manner    place  time         time  time       place 

6.  Other  similar  abbreviations  will  be  suggested  by  ex- 
perience. For  instance,  the  expression  on  my  behalf^  on  Ms 
behalf,  etc.,  may  be  represented  by  placing  the  character  for 
h  above  the  word-sign ;  for  this  reason,  for  another  reason, 
etc.,  by  placing  the  character  for  r  above  the  Avord-sign; 
and  for  this  purpose,  for  what  puipose,  etc.,  by  placing  the 
character  for  p  above  the  word-sign.  The  addition  of  the 
word  thing,  as  in  everything,  something,  may  be  denoted  by 
making  a  straight  stroke  through  the  word-sign. 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  101 

§  V.    Word-si(/ns  for  the  auxiliary  verbs. 

1.  For  the  words  may,  can,  ivill,  shall,  must,  ought  to, 
have,  had,  might,  could,  would,  should,  a  short  stroke  may 
be  used,  written  in  one  of  four  directions,  and  above  the  line 
for  the  first  four,  on  the  line  for  the  second  four,  and  below 
the  line  for  the  last  four. 

-      I     \      ^ 

-  I  \       X 

-IS/ 

may    can    will     shall    must      ought  to    have     had    might     could     would     should 

2.  The  addition  of  not  may  be  indicated  by  an  additional 
stroke  making  an  acute  angle  with  the  first ;  and  be  or  been 
by  a  parallel  stroke,  as  in  the  following  examples  : 


may  not     must  not    might  not    have  not    had  not     can  not     ought  not  to    could  sot 


=  II  \\  yy^ 

II  = 

may  be       could  be       must  be       ought  to  be        might  be     have  been       had  been 


may  not  be        must  not  be         might  not  be       have  not  been        had  not  been 


n 

can  not  be         ought  not  to  be        could  not  be 


102  A   NEW    SYSTEM   OF 

3.    Other  auxiliary  verbs. 


is,  am         are  was  were 

there  is      there  are      there  was       there  were 


^  O  ^         -^^ 

be  being  been  to  be 


\^  \^'  --^  N^-^ 

do  doing  done  to  do 


does  did 

§  VI.     Abbreviations  for  prefixes  and  terminations. 

1.  Tiie  best  method  of  abbreviating  prefixes,  such  as  ex, 
in,  un,  per,  pro,  pre,  con,  com,  etc.,  is  to  use  one  or  more  of 
the  characters  which  represent  the  sounds  contained  in  the 
prefix,  rather  than  to  use  detached  marks.  The  characters 
may,  in  many  cases,  be  combined  together  or  written  in  a 
briefer  form  to  show  that  they  are  intended  for  prefixes. 
For  instance  ex  may  be  represented  by  the  characters  for  Jc 
and  s  written  together ;  in  or  icn  by  the  character  for  n  made 
smaller  than  usual ;  per  by  the  character  for  p;  pro  or  pre 
by  the  character  for  pr ;  con  by  the  character  for  k  with  a 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  103 

short  stroke  downward  to  the  left  for  the  n;  and  com  by  the 
downward  stroke  of  the  m  character  written  in  a  curved  form 
to  represent  both  the  m  and  the  k  sound.  A  table  of  abbre- 
viations of  this  sort  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

2.  Some  of  the  terminations  of  nouns ^  such  as  ment,  ness^ 
tion,  sion,  ion,  ance,  ence,  may  be  denoted  by  a  straight  stroke 
through  the  preceding  part  of  the  word,  adding  the  s  char- 
acter for  a  plural  termination,  or  the  d  character  for  final  etZ, 
at  the  end  of  the  stroke. 

3.  Adjective  terminations,  such  as  ing,  ful,  ous,  ious, 
eous,  hie,  able,  ible,  may  be  represented  by  a  dot  at  the  end 
of  the  preceding  character. 

4.  The  adverbial  terminations  ly  and  ward  may  be  rep- 
resented by  a  dot  at  the  side  of  the  preceding  character. 

5.  The  signs  for  terminations  can  be  used  together.  The 
termination  fulness  Qoy fulness),  for  instance,  may  be  rep- 
resented by  a  dot  at  the  end  of,  and  a  stroke  through,  the 
preceding  character. 


104  A  NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

§  VII.    Word-signs /or  words  denoting  jposition  or  direction. 
above      below      over      under      upon      beneath     upward     downward 


'I       -I     I-     H       h 

before     behind  in  front  (of)     in  the  rear  (of)     towards     from     backward    forward 


•)        )•         0  )i       -)    )-       3        > 

within        without       inside  (of)       outside  (of)     into     out  of       inward        outward 


through  against  along  beyond  between        beside  or  besides 


T         1 


at  the  beginning      in  the  middle     at  the  end      at  the  top      at  the  bottom      across 

r—       —■ I        — II —        =         =r- 

the  former      the  latter      the  preceding       the  following       equal  (to)       unequal  (to) 

§  VIII.   Long-hand  abbreviations,  punctuation  marks,  etc. 
1.   The  same  abbreviations  that  are  used  in  ordinary  long- 
hand writing  may  also  be  used  here,  for  example  : 

>  <  +  X  ^ 

greater  than       less  than       in  addition  to       multiplied  by       divided  by 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  105 

2.  The  ordinary  punctuation  marks,  quotation  marks, 
numerals,  etc.,  may  also  be  used,  except  that  a  small  cross 
should  be  substituted  for  the  period, 

3.  The  ordinal  words  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  etc., 
may  be  represented  by  a  dot  at  the  side  of  the  numeral 
figure,  and  firstly,  secondly,  etc.,  by  an  additional  dot.  The 
words  once,  twice,  thrice,  may  be  represented  by  a  small 
circle  at  the  side  of  the  figure. 

4.  A  pause  may  be  denoted,  as  in  long-hand  writing,  by 
a  dash;  and  emjihasis  by  a  line  drawn  under  the  words 
emphasized. 

5.  Words  which  in  long-hand  begin  with  a  capital  letter 
may  be  denoted  in  short-hand  by  a  small  mark  ^  written 
above  them. 


KEY  TO  THE  SHOBT-HAND  EXAMPLES  ON  PAGES  117-120. 

EXAMPLE   I. 

The  Grandeur  of  Peace. — Sumner. 
Whatever  may  be  the  jutlgment  of  poets,  of  moralists, 
of  satirists,  or  even  of  soldiers,  it  is  certain  that  the  glory  of 
arms  still  exercises  no  mean  influence  over  the  minds  of  men. 
The  art  of  war,  which  has  been  happily  termed  by  a  French 
divine,  the  baleful  art  by  which  men  learn  to  exterminate 
one  another,  is  yet  held,  even  among  Christians,  to  be  an 
honorable  pursuit ;  and  the  animal  courage,  which  it  stimu- 
lates and  develops,  is  prized  as  a  transcendent  virtue.  It 
will  be  for  another  age,  and  a  higher  civilization,  to  appreci- 
ate the  more  exalted  character  of  the  art  of  benevolence — 
the  art  of  extending  happiness  and  all  good  influences,  by 
word  or  deed,  to  the  largest  number  of  mankind  —  which,  in 
blessed  contrast  with  the  misery,  the  degradation,  the  wicked- 
ness of  war,  shall  shine  resplendent,  the  true  grandeur  of 
peace.  All  then  will  be  willing  to  join  with  the  early  poet 
in  saying,  at  least, 

"Though  louder  fame  attend  the  martial  rage, 
'Tis  greater  glory  to  reform  the  age." 

Ddes  any  one  ask  for  the  signs  of  this  approaching  era? 
The  increasing  beneficence  and  intelligence  of  our  own  day, 

(106) 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  107 

the  broail-spread  sympathy  with  human  suffering,  the  widen- 
ing thoughts  of  men,  the  longings  of  the  heart  for  a  higher 
condition  on  earth,  the  unfulfilled  promises  of  Christian 
progress,  are  the  auspicious  auguries  of  this  happy  future. 
As  early  voyagers  over  untried  realms  of  waste,  we  have 
already  observed  the  signs  of  land.  The  green  twig  and 
fresh  red  berry  have  floated  by  our  bark ;  the  odors  of  the 
shore  fan  our  faces ;  nay,  we  may  seem  to  descry  the  distant 
gleam  of  light,  and  hear  from  the  more  earnest  observers,  as 
Columbus  heard,  after  midnight,  from  the  mast-head  of  the 
Pinta,  the  joyful  cry  of  Land  !  Land  !  and  lo  !  a  new  world 
broke  upon  his  early  morning  gaze. 

EXAMPLE  II. 

The  Character  of  True  Eloquence. —  Webster. 
When  public  bodies  are  to  be  addressed  on  momentous 
occasions,  when  great  interests  are  at  stake,  and  strong  pas- 
sions excited,  nothing  is  valuable  in  speech  farther  than  as  it 
is  connected  with  high  intellectual  and  moral  endowments. 
Clearness,  force,  and  earnestness,  are  the  qualities  which 
produce  conviction.  True  eloquence,  indeed,  does  not  con- 
sist in  speech.  It  cannot  be  brought  from  far.  Labor  and 
learning  may  toil  for  it,  but  they  will  toil  in  vain.  Words 
and  phrases  may  be  marshalled  in  every  way^  but  they  cannot 
compass  it.  It  must  exist  in  the  man,  in  the  subject,  and  in 
the  occasion.  Affected  passion,  intense  expression,  the  pomp 
of  declamation,  all  may  aspire  to  it ;  they  cannot  reach  it. 


108  A  NEW   SYSTEM    OF 

It  comes,  if  it  come  at  all,  like  the  outbreaking  of  a  fountain 
from  the  earth,  or  the  bursting  forth  of  volcanic  fires,  with 
spontaneous,  original,  native  force.  The  graces  taught  in 
the  schools,  the  costly  ornaments  and  studied  contrivances  of 
speech,  shock  and  disgust  men,  when  their  own  lives,  and 
the  fate  of  their  wives,  their  children,  and  their  country, 
hang  on  the  decision  of  the  hour.  Then  words  have  lost 
their  power,  rhetoric  is  vain,  and  all  elaborate  oratory  con- 
temptible. Even  genius  itself  then  feels  rebuked  and  sub- 
dued, as  in  the  presence  of  higher  qualities.  Then  patriot- 
ism is  eloquent ;  then  self-devotion  is  eloquent.  The  clear 
conception,  outrunning  the  deductions  of  logic,  the  high  pur- 
pose, the  firm  resolve,  the  dauntless  spirit,  speaking  on  the 
tongue,  beaming  from  the  eye,  informing  every  feature,  and 
urging  the  whole  man  onward,  right  onward,  to  his  object  — 
this,  this  is  eloquence ;  or  rather  it  is  something  greater  and 
higher  than  all  eloquence,  it  is  action,  noble,  sublime,  god- 
like action. 

EXAMPLE   III. 

THE  STAR  SPANGLED  BANNER. 

O  say,  can  you  see,  by  the  dawn's  early  light, 
"What  so  proudly  we  hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming ; 

Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars,  through  tlie  perilous  fight. 
O'er  the  ramparts  we  watched  were  so  gallantly  streaming ! 

And  the  rockets'  red  glare,  the  bombs  bursting  in  air. 

Gave  proof  through  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there ; 
O  say,  does  that  Star-Spangled  Banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave ! 


PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND.  109 

On  the  shore,  dimly  seen  through  the  mists  of  the  deep. 
Where  the  foe's  haughty  host  in  dread  silence  reposes, 

What  is  that  which  the  breeze,  o'er  the  towering  steep, 
As  it  fitfully  blows,  now  conceals,  now  discloses ! 

Now  it  catches  the  gleam  of  the  morning's  first  beam, 

In  full  glory  reflected  now  shines  on  the  stream ; 
'Tis  the  Star-Spangled  Banner!  O,  long  may  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave ! 


And  where  are  the  foes  who  so  vauntingly  swore 
That  the  havoc  of  war  and  the  battle's  confusion, 

A  home  and  a  country  should  leave  us  no  more? 
Their  blood  hath  washed  out  their  foul  footsteps'  pollution ! 

No  refuge  could  save  the  hireling  and  slave 

From  the  terror  of  flight  or  the  gloom  of  the  grave ; 
And  the  Star-Spangled  Banner  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave ! 


0~,  thus  be  it  ever,  when  freemen  shall  stand 
Between  their  loved  homes  and  the  war's  desolation ! 

Blessed  with  victory  and  peace,  may  the  heaven-rescued  land 
Praise  the  Power  that  hath  made  and  preserved  us  a  Nation. 

Then  conquer  we  must,  when  our  cause  it  is  just. 

And  this  be  our  motto,  "In  God  is  our  trust;" 
And  the  Star-Spangled  Banner  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave ! 


110  A   NEW   SYSTEM   OF 

EXAMPLE   IV. 

CROSS-EXAMINATION    OF    A   "WITNESS.* 

Q.  You  have  produced  a  uote-book  of  original  steno- 
graphic report  of  a  speech  of  the  President? 

A.    Yes,  sir. 

Q.    Is  it  of  the  whole  speech  ? 

A.    Of  the  whole  speech. 

Q.    Was  it  wholly  made  by  you  ? 

A.    By  me  ;  yes  sir. 

Q.    How  long  did  the  speech  occupy  in  the  delivery? 

A.    Well,  I  suppose  some  twenty  or  twenty-five  minutes. 

Q.  By  what  method  of  stenographic  reporting  did  you 
proceed  on  that  occasion  ? 

A.    Pitman's  system  of  phonography. 

Q.  Which  is,  as  I  understand,  reporting  by  sound,  and 
not  by  sense  ? 

A.    We  report  the  sense  by  the  sound. 

Q.    I  understand  you  report  by  sound  wholly  ? 

A.    Signs. 

Q.    And  not  by  memory  of  or  attention  to  sense  ? 

A.  ^No  good  reporter  can  report  imless  he  always  pays 
attention  and  understands  the  sense  of  what  he  is  reporting. 


*  See  Impeachment  of  Andrew  Johnson,  Vol.  I,  p.  28-2.  In  the  example  the  ques- 
tions in  cross-examination  are  distinguished  from  the  answers  of  the  witness  by  two 
strokes  crossing  each  other  before  the  questions,  and  a  veitical  stroke  before  the 
answers.  Questions  in  direct  examination  may  be  marked  by  writing  before  them  a 
stroke  slanting  downward  from  riglit  to  left.  The  questions  may  be  numbered  by 
placing  the  number  over  the  crossed  lines  or  the  slanting  line.  Any  interruptions,  such 
as  objections  by  counsel,  questions  or  remarks  by  the  court,  arguments  on  objections, 
etc.,  should  be  separated  by  parenthesis-marks. 


PHONETIC    SHORT-HAND.  Ill 

Q.  That  is  the  very  point  I  wish  to  arrive  at,  whether 
you  are  attending  to  the  sound  and  setting  it  down  in  your 
notation,  or  whether  you  are  attending  to  the  sense  and 
setting  it  down  from  your  memory  or  attention  to  the  sense? 

A.    Both. 

Q.    Both  at  the  same  time? 

A.    Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Your  characters  are  ai-bitrary,  are  they  not ;  that  is, 
they  are  peculiar  to  your  art  ? 

A.    Yes,  sir. 

Q.    They  are  not  letters? 

A.    No,  sir. 

Q.    Nor  words  ? 

A.    We  have  word  signs. 

Q.    But  generally  sound  signs? 

A.  We  have  signs  for  sounds,  just  as  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  represent  sounds. 

Q.    But  not  the  same  ? 

A.    No,  sir. 

Q.    You  do  not  make  a  sign  for  every  Avord? 

A.  Almost  every  word.  "Of  the"  we  generally  drop, 
and  indicate  that  by  putting  the  two  words  closer  together. 
Of  course,  we  have  rules  jjoverninor  us  in  writinsr. 


112  PHONETIC   SHORT-HAND. 

Q.  That  is,  you  have  signs  which  belong  to  every  word, 
excepting  when  you  drop  the  particles? 

A.    Yes,  sir. 

Q.  But  not,  as  a  matter  of  course,  a  sign  that  is  the  rep- 
resentative of  a  whole  word? 

A.   Yes,  sir ;  we  have  signs  representing  words. 

Q.    Some  signs? 
A.    Yes,  sir.  • 

Q.  For  instance,  for  the  word  "jurisprudence,"  you  have 
no  one  sign  that  represents  it? 

A.    No,  sir ;  I  should  write  that  "j-r-s-p." 


TABLE    VI. 


113. 


r~ 


Prefixes 


i 

jcrv 

i 


(  /^ 


S^i^yijUf/uiMJw    (^ 


-V 


Term  i  nation  8 
A ^ 


/ 


/^ 


Vo 


V 


/? 


•2. 


41 


Mam/ 
fitc<nv 


c 
f 
r 
r 

<£. 
Ji 


i 


C<rT*v 


^ 


J[JM^\*\»/l^aM<t' 


fyiy 


i 

i 

i  I 


*^*Yo 


^         I  /TM^WTiA^ 


lu6 


114i 


TABLE    YR. 

Contractions 


r 

/ 
if 

r' 

r 

V 

J 

/ 

/ 
/ 

r 


f 


AMey 

J. 

J«A/ 

/ 

/VW    a*V 

- 

Af 

iu 

"r 

XojJmjui/ 

^ 

At^/«U' 

M^kAir 

PiuM 

t 

iuniMzfir 

r 

- 

yYfUiu 

Pk£M^ 

J 

JU 

^' 

yH^Mvcvt' 

vtT 

fihc 

piiA^ui^<yiV 

I 

p-<^ 

1 

xtw 

Y 

fiJU^Ucujciw 

lA^e^^' 

/ 

/ffiJUf 

"3 

ycnv  )S^ni/ 

-rJso 

/oiWo^' 

fiUxiJ^ 

-e- 

jOuhA/ 

t 

/crw  MnA4i 

^^-c 

■Uj^ 

pCvoit/ 

^ui- 

/(wLe<JiJitliv 

^ 

firW    Mi^ 

V 

mXch^' 

/mwu 

A. 

/I- 

xmiy 

^ 

^ 

io'vUe/ 

A 

y^^/Oij 

/ 

jViCy^fiMXiVi 

Vic 

fJUh^ 

/J;  ^ 

V 

jivJi- 

iX 

/VKT'tnivK? 

c^ 

p  1- 

4 

V 

pl 

r 

AA--crv 

7^' 

/sUPM/ 

««^ 

,|L^ 

i) 

^M'O'W 

1 

yVfilU 

/^-'Ch/uJ 

^ 

/cyvuMiAX^ 

u 

/l/!xH' 

^ 

/Wwi^ 

P^ 

^\ 

h 

(/ 

/CUvd 

^^^ 

0 

P'-Hiow 

^ 

ArVMU^ 

(J- 

,aM^M)Icxth 

^v^ 

/vrm/iej'OW 

4 

o- 

akjVu^ 

(T 

uaaAaJ/ 

7 

MtIlh^ 

lev 

«>c 

Awint/:^ 

c/^ 

£yi/^UA£/ 

/^ 

Wutw/ 

Lrt/pU' 

/"V. 

AlVU^ir 

c/h 

//i^M/utJUi 

^ 

je^jt^iU 

^'->^ 

/fhyoctiokv 

^ 

AM^lAM^ 

^ 

/VVWV^tft^ 

TABLE     Vn .       (ContinuecL) 


W5 


v> 

T 

y 

1   (t^toMV 

j 

Z' 

4-OHiJlr 

-^ 

MA^ 

SA' 

t" 

'        1 

X 

^i<«*tew«4*<7 

V* 

JUUUX  oA 

7° 

j^i^Ucw 

^i^^ 

/^ 

CVMC^,  C«t»N4' 

S^ 

iu^/Lh 

9f 

jM/x4<rHaUi( 

^ 

CflTHlW 

^D 

a6 

'-^ 

,'Ui/l/t<KK' 

^  i  d«vv>v 

7 

lrfcc«T**e' 

J^- 

ai  leMcVTi 

— 

jvOA.^ 

,_X'  j  ^aaama^ 

^ 

>? 

ol^  Jon' 416 

-. 

UoaMaa 

L 

yiM^a^^ 

-fS 

civeA^ifiatantu 

oo 

aiz/fdiol 

^• 

iWZaajU<vv 

I 

y^AA^XX/riir 

/ 

a/m^jvi/<i 

^ 

<K6  yi\MJieJlyai 

--• 

yii«A^lcuK*V 

h 

>H'*oae' 

6 

4cccJiM^ 

^ 

(U^dooptr  ad 

^- 

itA^4i4-i/K 

/^ 

./t4*<n**v«»' 

6. 

JbjxsiMi*^ 

>^ 

jtUiicyiaAA 

- 

/^-uauUlu    \  K 

-**<***KrXiy 

6 

fr/UM^MJl/' 

JL  \^ 

-^ 

,  ^nJia!i^^AJi'        r^ 

yM/KrvMiWP 

c 

J^ 

aoxnvU 

'T' 

/vi/m«*tt«/ 

/H/Kj^f/y 

c/ 

ftW*' 

(J[ 

alctmv 

,'>-- 

^Ah/C^nSlh^ 

2 

oiWo^-i^ 

s^ 

cuv;e4* 

\ 

/t^uu^xryi- 

^>K. 

{])^\^^WtMloit 

z 

/a^ti*-*^^ 

T 

J^oae/MW 

A? 

^tVKTtfX' 

\j 

1 

4 

^J-V-Ut-C-OW 

IP 

coK/Ca*v«- 

; 

j6jO'(ruyf 

VO 

'JU^ 

Z^    ':    QA  ^U/t/tyt«^V 

i. 

Couiwi/u 

J 

A/Ot^/0 

V3- 

jcM 

^       Aci'A^^.'**^ 

^• 

C<rvu4vi4x!««a 

r 

T^ 

«:?- 

jdtdl                            V         Uo-UitA4^ 

VT' 

a^K«/ui/^ 

'^i  ■ 

/iratfttv 

^ 

oMXMdi^    \ 

? 

y<(^K*</5jetMr 

^•. 

qJlMtn^oMu 

V   \ 

>V**H*+l3 

116. 


TABLE    Vm. 


Long-TiandL 


Departed  Days  —  Holmes. 

Shorb-lz&ndy 


(Sjixtm  CBwveo  f^uMA   uA/n.  pmce.  nuvte, 


^ 


k.Vp. 


W/mxc/MiC'  /fiwA-  /Kmx/rtttrrn;    /u>*«/ . 


4-^-e-r^    ^ 


u 


^j^ 


^  P     ' 


'(T 


(y°.^- 


c/ 


EXAMPLE     1'.  •  117. 

Tke  Grandeur  of  Peace  —  Sumner. 

^    H^  ^^  ^\^  1  "  ^  ^*^  ^'^(^  %  '^'^2/  ^y  -^  ^  <y  ^  '^ 
H/  ^"^T.  ?  6/  C  I"  ^  ^-7^  /-Tr^  ?  ^  "^  =-v-^  -^^  <^  l-y^  -^^ 


118.  EXAMPLE      n. 

True  Eloc[uence  —  Webster. 

^V,^ov-^x^  nV'y-^-y-— y^-^'/"'^^ 


EXAMPLE     in. 


119. 


The  Star  Spangled  Banner 


/ 


d//- "^  "V.  *^  V  "^^  "^>  ^ ' 


U-^^^'l'r^C^ 


M. 


v^->'--^^^<^--^ 


/" 


'^^/^^^/^Z'"^' 


^ y  ^  ^  ^  -  'V  <^  o^ ^^r 


120.  EXAMPLE     IV. 

Cross-examination  of  a  witness. 

^/"lo-X"^^  Ivo'^X^^'^ — ^""•- ^'^° .. - 

-2^.   Jv^ .     |^a.^__  ^^K^    \/'^   X-'^    ""^   I         ^    "^    X^^ 

^    -.^-^    2.    ,_^^     ^^   "C    X   -^  (T'     ■■    N    ^-ro     (y<     -^   ^_^.    \     i^°    •    N 


•«miiii 


Selow. 


^^^UAS,  TFT '  1 


f JNIVERSITY  ot  CALIFORWlA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 

LIBRARY 


